The Assassin's Secretary
by YelenaZ
Summary: What if Valek and Yelena met under different circumstances? In order to repay a debt to her adopted mother after she escaped from Brazell, Yelena decides become a secretary at the castle. Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Valek sighed. He stared longingly out the thin windows of his office, wishing to be outside training like the rest of the men instead of having to do paperwork. The hot season was ending and while it was still warm, it wasn't sweltering. In fact, it was the perfect time for training. He sat brooding about it until a knock on his door startled him from his reverie.

"Come in," he called. The door creaked open to let a thin, mouse-like man into his office. The man shuffled his feet, nervousness emanating off him in waves. Of course, that was nothing new to Valek, so he just sat and stared disconcertingly at the man. The man just cleared his throat. "The Commander wishes to see you in his office," he said in a nasally voice. "In fact, he insists that you come now."

Without saying anything, Valek rose and strode out of his office, the messenger trailing a few paces behind him. He walked fast, so that soon, the other man was running to keep up with him. When he reached the Commander's office, the man remained outside, back against the wall.

The Commander looked up at him as he entered the room. "Have a seat, Valek," the Commander said, gesturing to an empty chair in front of his desk. "The reason that I have called you here is that I have found an assistant for you." The Commander held up his hand when Valek opened his mouth to argue. "No, not a second-in-command, which you also desperately need, but a secretary to run your errands and to do any paperwork you require for her to do."

"_Her_? Who is she?" demanded Valek. He sighed and leaned back into his chair. Of course the Commander would do something like this. Too bad he couldn't just dismiss the assistant, as it was the Commander who hired her. The Commander offered one of his rare smiles."She is a woman that came to the castle yesterday looking for a job. As soon as she asked for any openings, I thought of you." Valek grimaced. "No, listen to me, Valek. You need her. Don't think that I haven't noticed you spending your whole day in your office doing paperwork." When Valek's almost pained expression stayed on his face, the Commander sighed and played his last card. "Besides, I need a second-in-command that can actually keep his skills honed razor sharp. You need more training time."

Valek considered this. Yes, he needed more training time, but he also needed to maintain the high security of his office. Nobody he didn't trust completely was allowed in his office, aside from the prisoners he decided to offer a second chance. "Alright. But if I am not satisfied with this secretary by the end of this month, she goes." The Commander's face remained neutral and only the slightest twitching of the corner's of his lips revealed his thoughts. "Agreed. She will arrive at your office by sunrise tomorrow." Valek groaned internally as he left the office. He had been planning to sleep in tomorrow. Being the Commander's second-in-command, no matter what anyone thought, was _not _easy.

* * *

Yelena POV:

I looked around the room that I had been given. It was threadbare but neat, with a hard bed under a wide window as well as a desk and closet. I was beginning to question the decision that I had made to leave home to work for an income. But, no, I could not leave now. Not when Mirela depended on me now, when she had taken me in 13 years ago and gave me a home. I thought of her warmth and kindness with a sigh. The woman who had brought me to this room...Margg...was that her name? I could tell after 2 minutes with her that we weren't going to get along. She was everything I hated in a person rolled into one: bossiness, condescending, and just a thoroughly bad attitude. I wondered what had happened that made her like this.

My thoughts eventually wandered to my new job. The Commander had told me that I would be the secretary for one of his Advisors, nothing else. He had not told me exactly whom and I was curious. Since Mirela and I had lived relatively excluded from the outside world, I did not know much about the Commander and his army, only the Code of Behavior. Would my new boss be nice? What would he...or she expect me to do? Copy dusty old documents? Research for strange topics?

I wondered if the Commander's assassin was in the castle at this moment. Mirela had told me that he had killed the King's family and was now the Commander's right hand man. I couldn't decide whether or not to be afraid of him like everyone else. Yes, he had killed a large group of people, but were they not tyrannical? Ixia is now much happier under the Commander's rule. I leapt off my perch on the windowsill and went to open the door of my room. The aroma of fresh cooked sweet cakes wafted down the hallway. Attracted by the wonderful smells, I followed my nose into the large, bustling kitchen. It was around dinnertime and all the servants were in there, some snatching their plates away to eat somewhere else, others remaining to eat at the long wooden table. I pushed into the crowd and squirmed towards the sweet cakes.

Just as I extended my hand to steal one, a callused palm closed around my wrist. A man wearing a cook's uniform grinned down at me. He was slightly handsome and seemed very cheerful. "No food until you tell me your name," he told me. I hestitated, then told him my name. As soon as I said it though, the entire kitchen became silent. "Who are you?" asked one of the serving girls, looking at me with a mystified expression. I wanted to shrink back into my room. "Ah...I'm going to a secretary for one of the Advisors." Everyone continued to stare at me for a moment or two and then they turned away and the noise escalated again.

"Don't worry about them. They're harmless but very wary of strangers in their midst. I'm Rand, the cook, by the way," the man smiled as he extended his hand to shake. I took his hand and smiled uncertainly. "Come on, now that you've told us who you are, feel free to stuff yourself with sweet cakes." He got a plate out of nowhere and began scooping sweet cakes onto it. "Thanks," I mumbled as he handed me the plate. As I carried it to a secluded corner of the kitchen, I held the plate carefully, hoping it wouldn't crack under the weight of so many cakes.

After I had eaten my fill, I headed back to my room to go to bed early. My stomach filled with butterflies as I wondered what my new boss would be like. The cakes had made me extremely full and I felt slightly nauseous. I shouldn't have eaten so much but I was afraid that I would offend Rand or any of the kitchen workers if my plate was not empty. I finally reached my room after almost getting lost twice and I collapsed into bed, exhausted.

* * *

Guys, constructive criticism is welcome, as this is my first fanfic.

Any ideas or tips for future chapters is welcome

:D

I know this is really short but I think that the next chapter will be longer...


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks to Gwidlet, for suggesting such a great idea!

Valek, Yelena and any other Poison Study characters belong to Maria V. Snyder and do not belong to me...unfortunately...

* * *

Chapter Two

Valek yawned. He really should be getting to bed now, but his curiousity would not be satisfied until he had seen her with his own two eyes. Ever since the Commander had mentioned the secretary, Valek had done some sleuthing to find out who she was. He definitely would not ask the Commander;the Commander would gloat, even if noone else realised it. Luckily, he had an informant in the kitchen and he hd ordered the man to find out her name and where her room was.

_Yelena. _It didn't sound like a northern name, but like a name Sitians would call their children. Well, that was no surprise. After all, the border between Ixia and Sitia had basically been non existant until the takeover occured. The woman's parents must have fled to Sitia in the panic that had ensued, leaving her behind. Valek shook his head. Why would they think that massive bloodshed and violence would fall upon Ixia? As far as he thought, people were better off with the Commander than under the King.

Padding down the hall to the north servant's quarters, he made sure nobody was around. The northern servant's quarters were reserved for those that were not actually servants, but were not considered as high ranking as Advisors. He reached the fourth door down the hall and hesitated. A tinge of nervousness flared inside him, even though he never got nervous anymore. Not for the last 10 years, at least. What if she somehow found out he had been there?

**No**. He wouldn't stop now. Anyways, it would be next to impossible for her to find out he had been in her room. He checked the door thoroughly for traps and then slowly turned the knob. The door eased open silently, thanks to the drop of oil he had applied to the hinges. Closing the door behind him, he searched his pockets for a match and a candle. Striking the match, he lit the candle and lifted it to scan the room. The first thing he noticed as the bed situated underneath the window and the silhouette of the woman sleeping with her back to him. He cursed silently to himself. It would be very challenging to get a look at her face, as her bed was pushed against the wall. She slept on the far side of the bed, curled against the wall. He stepped closer and leaned over her, holding the candle high.

Chestnut curls were tumbled all over the pillow. The face that it framed was astonishingly lovely with high arches of dark brows and long, thick eyelashes. Her soft, pink lips moved as she mumbled something in her sleep. Betraying him, Valek felt his heart skip a beat. Immediately, he jerked back and nearly caused the candle to blow out. _What was he thinking? _He was an assassin, not a hopeless romantic. So she had a pretty face. So she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. So what?

Good. His curiousity was satisfied. Now he had an advantage over her by knowing her name and what she looked like. He would have to start a new file for her in his office tomorrow and find out more information as he got to know her. She would be arriving at dawn so now he should now get back to his suite and get some rest. But first, he couldn't resist the urge to look at her again, just one more time. He leaned over the bed again slowly. Suddenly, a drop of hot wax from the candle slowly dripped down the side of the candle. He hurriedly tried to catch it with a sleeve, but he was too late. With a sizzle, the scalding wax made contact with the blankets. Her eyes immediately shot open, revealing luminous emerald irises.

* * *

Yelena POV:

In my dream, a fire raged around me. I was trapped within the walls of Brazell's orphanage, in a small, windowless room. The flames were spreading towards me and I had nowhere to run. One of the sparks flew towards me and I felt a brief sensation of burning. Gasping, I woke, only to find that the thing that had burned me was a drop of hot wax. Then, the horrible sense that a stranger was in my room flooded me.

"_What are you doing!_" I jumped out of bed and reached for the brass candleholder on my bedside table. Brandishing it in front of me as a weapon, I turned to face my intruder. He was holding a candle and appeared to be unarmed. "Why are you in my room?" I demanded furiously."I suppose you're going to say that your intentions were completely harmless!" I took a wild swing at him with the candleholder but he dodged me with ease. Then it occured to me that though I had the candleholder for a bat, he was probably one of the soldiers and could beat me any day of week. So I opened my mouth wide to call loudly for help.

A hand clapped over my mouth. The other hand stopped me from smashing him in the face. He had dropped the candle, but the light from the moon was enough for me to see that he had black ringlets and piercing blue eyes. "I am not here to hurt you, or force you in any way," he told me in a low voice. "I am your new boss." _My new boss_? I shook my head and he let his hands drop from my mouth and arm. I stared at him incredulously. "What kind of boss sneaks into their secretary's rooms?" He remained silent, but he fidgeted slightly, giving me the idea that he was embarrassed. When he eventually spoke, his voice and expression turned hard and cold. "As the Commander's chief of security, it is part of my job to ensure that the people working in the castle are of no threat to him."

_The Commander's security chief_. Valek. The most feared man in Ixia, and probably Sitia too. Instinctively, I backed away from him and bumped into the bed. I sat down on the matress with a loud _thump. _A shock of fear shot through me. What had I done? Was he here to kill me? Quickly, I grabbed the candleholder from the ground and held it in front of me once again. A fast glance back up showed me that he seemed to be amused. "What? I wouldn't care if you were the Commander himself. You had no right to come into my room and when you do, then I have a right to protect myself and my privacy." My fear dissapated as anger took its place. _How dare he?_

He said nothing, but continued to stand there and just stare at me. After a few moments, I began to get nervous again. His stare seemed to penetrate me and unearth all the secrets of my past. But I wasn't going to let him win this round, so I stayed just as silent and stared back at him. Finally, when I was just about to admit defeat, he spoke. "It seems that we are at an impasse." I blinked. It took him _that _long to think of something to say? I cleared my throat. "Yes, but we can solve that if you would just step out of my room."

He seemed surprised, as if he hadn't thought of that and left quickly, easing the door shut silently. I remained sitting at the edge of my bed for a long time. That was probably the strangest thing that had ever happened to me in my life. I began to laugh at the memory of our ridiculous staring contest a few moments. Well, tomorrow morning was going to very awkward. Or was it today? I should probably go back to sleep. Even though I now knew that Valek wasn't as scary as people made him sound, I'm pretty sure he's a hard taskmaster.

Laying back down, my thoughts drifted to Mirela once again. I wondered what she was doing with herself while I was gone. I just hoped that she would be able to manage to get around without me. Worry spiked my heart but I buried it deep and forced myself into a deep and dreamless sleep.

* * *

The Next Morning

I yawned and sat up, looking out the window as I did so. Then, I leapt hurriedly out of bed and got dressed. It was probably only fifteen minutes until dawn, leaving me just enough time to scarf down come breakfast. I ran to the kitchen, exchanging pleasantries with Rand and insults with Maarg and ate my food as I walked to Valek's office, on the other end of the castle. When I got there, I knocked firmly on the door but nobody answered. When I tried the doorknobs, they refused to turn, so I sat with my back against the wall and let myself enjoy breakfast. As the bread's sweet jam coated my tongue, I tried to guess some reasons of why Valek was late. Was it because he always slept in? No. I could not imagine an assassin snoring as the sun rose outside. Maybe something happened to delay him, like finally deciding to fire Maarg. No. I'm sure Maarg was wise enough not to sass Valek. The most probably reason was probably because he felt awkward of what happened last night.

Well, that wasn't my fault. _'He just had to go sneak into my room' _I thought huffily. Mirela had taught me not to judge someone else until I knew them well. But then, nobody could hardly expect Valek to do that. He probably survived this long by being so wary. But no matter what I told myself, I was still mad at him.

A flurry of voices came from around the corner. They were loud and angry, and it sounded like two men arguing. As the two men turned into the corridor, I saw that it was the Commander and Valek. "Valek, at least consider it. You haven't tried working with these two yet, so you wouldn't know if they would be suited to the position," the Commander said persuasively. "If you want to assign them as my seconds, you have the authority," Valek replied tonelessly. "You know that I wouldn't do that because I want _you_ to choose who your seconds are," the Commander retorted.

Both stopped talking as soon as they realised that I was just a few feet away. The Commander turned and left abruptly, leaving Valek and I alone. Valek stepped up to the door and began the tedious job of unlocking the three complicated looking and clunky locks. When the door opened, he allowed me to enter the office before entering himself. He crossed the large room to sit at his desk, which was located beneath a row of tall, thin windows resembling tiger's stripes.

The first thing that I noticed when I entered the room was the lack of space. Even though the room was huge (larger than my bedroom, anyways), it was stuff with a variety of items. Books were scattered on the large conference table, on his desk and on the floor. The bookshelf in the corner didn't seem to be in use, as it was almost empty. There were also a ton of silvery-black rocks dotting the floor, some big and some the size of a nail. My eyes were immediately attracted to the set of panther statues on his desk. They were so realistic that I half expected them to leap down to the floor. Upon closer inspection, I realised that they were made from the silvery rocks in the room. Who made them? I almost considered Valek, but the idea of an assassin carving sculptures just boggled my mind.

"Are you going to sit down anytime soon?" Valek asked. I looked at him, startled, before seating myself on the chair facing him. He leaned forward on the desk and passed me paper, quills and a bottle of ink. "My first assignment for you is to copy this book." He held up a thick volume, which seemed to be a book about poisons. "Until I decide I can trust you, copying books will be all you'll do. _If_ I think you're ready, you'll be copying files for me, as well as decoding messages and various other tasks. Until then, if "then" ever happens, I will be watching your every move." His eyes bored into mine accusingly, as if to him, I had already failed his test.

* * *

Is this long enough for one chapter or should I go even longer?

Review and tell me what you think!

-YelenaZ


	3. Chapter 3

Gwidlet: I don't know about Ari or Janco. Probably, I'll just suddenly turn the plot around and do something totally unexpected...

:D

* * *

Chapter 3

Valek POV:

I stared at her after I had finished speaking. She seemed to shrink away from me and she averted her eyes, appearing to take in the details of the room. I sighed inwardly. What had I done? Why was I continually scaring or intimidating people just by stating the bare facts? Well, I suppose that the truth is probably the worst nightmare anyone can face in their life. I would know, after having to accept that my brothers were dead and my parents now hated the sight of me.

Yelena turned toward me, making eye contact with me once more. I wondered if I would always be in awe of her exotic green eyes. The colour alone was rare in Ixia, but the intensity and deepness of the shade of her irises I had never seen in any other person's eyes. "I agree," she replied calmly. "It makes sense that you wouldn't trust a stranger." Finally. She was one of the few people that accepted facts. "Alright then," I said briskly. "I will give you one month,as I have already told the Commander. If you do not meet my expectations or gain my trust during that period, then you will be dismissed." As I said that though, I felt as if I was sinking, drowning inside. Which was ridiculous, since I did not even know this woman, though she was uncommonly attractive. _I__ shouldn't even be thinking about that!_

Though I usually like to face things straight on, I found that I had to leave the room soon or I would say something that I would regret. Mumbling some excuse, I gave her the book of poisons and left my office, heading straight for the abandoned library, where I usually went when I had to think things through. The library had belonged to the King when he was still alive and a fact that most people didn't know about him was that he loved books,information and stories. Yes, it was strange that I tyrant would even take interest in these topics, much less create an elaborate library, but who am I to talk? I'm an assassin that likes to carve statues of plants and animals.

I patted the dust from one of my favourite chairs, one with excessive golden embroidery. I hadn't been here for a long time, what with the paperwork and all, but I was glad to see that not much had changed. Of course, most people either don't know this place exists or don't visit this place, which is why I like to come here for reflection. I sat into the fat cushions of the chair and had the satisfying feeling of sinking into the softness. Now, to think.

If only I had just gone straight to bed last night, or caught the drop of wax, nothing would have happened. I wouldn't have had to endure the embarrassing moment of being caught red-handed. But it _did_ happen. So what to do now? Well, it was obviously too late to pretend that I didn't know her and forgot everything about last night. Doing that would be even more embarrassing. The only thing to do is to brazen it out and hopefully eventually she'll stop thinking about it. What if she tells someone? I immediately dismissed that thought. Yelena didn't seem to me as someone that would gossip for the fun of it, like Maarg. Ah, Maarg. Such an unpleasant character, but yet so useful.

Shaking my head, I thought back to the problem at hand. I would continue to observe Yelena like I told her I would. I fully expected her to be out of the castle within the month, as it takes a _lot_ to earn my trust. No matter where I tailed her though, I would stay out of her room unless it was absolutely necessary. It would bring back too many embarrassing memories. Especially if she were to catch me at it again. My informant at the kitchens had also told me about Rand's interest in her. I hope she wouldn't fall into one of his lies or worse, to know the truth but still comply with his schemes. He's plotting something, I just know it.

Good. I was about to stand up, problems solved when I realised that there was one last, tiny problem that I didn't really want to deal with. Yelena herself. Or rather, her beauty. No, my _reaction_ to her beauty. If I didn't watch myself, I'd soon be following her around like a lovesick man, and we couldn't have that, could we? Of course, I could always dismiss her in a month, telling her that she hadn't earned my trust, but somehow that didn't seem fair. She should be rewarded if she succeeded. Not many people gain even a small morsel of my trust, even if I have known and worked with them for years. To do so in one month would be an almost impossible task. So I would just spend more time training and act as I usually do towards her. That ought to crush anything that might develop. Not that that's possible.

I grinned and stood up, checking my belt for me weapons. Yep, they were there, so off to the training yard I go.

* * *

Yelena POV:

I sighed. I was never going to finish copying this heavy mound of dusty pages until probably next week. The writing was cramped, small and hard to decipher. Whoever wrote this book should have hired somebody else to do it for them. I really didn't want to be doing this right now. Especially since it wasn't even important, just work from Valek to keep me busy and out of his way. But if I didn't do it, he'd have a chance to fire me, and I couldn't afford to lose this position. Mirela depended on me.

Supressing another sigh, I bent my head and began to copy. As I continued, I began to actually enjoy it, not the copying, but the contents of the book. It talked about different types of poisons, described their physical properties, what would happen if they were ingested and they were ranked in terms of most deadly and most rare. Knowing Valek, he probably had all the poisons listed in the book stashed in a cabinet somewhere, just waiting for the chance to use it on some poor man.

I had just began copying the section about the poison My Love, when Valek arrived back at the office. I suspected that he had been training while I was copying but he wasn't panting or showing any signs of exertion. He crossed the room to look over my shoulder. "You've copied more than I expected" was his only comment. He bookmarked my page and and took the book away from me. "Alright. You're free to go. I would advise you to stay within the castle, as the days are getting shorter and it will take at least half and hour to get to town."

I should have been relieved to go, but I wasn't. He wasn't being fair at all! How would I earn his trust if he didn't give me an oppurtunity to do so? I said so to him and he stared at me as if I had actually made a good point. Which I had. After a long pause, he said,"If you know I'm watching, it's not a true test of trust. You'll do the right thing because you'll know. Your test will happen when you're not expecting it to happen, which can happen anywhere, anytime." I nodded reluctantly. Damn, he had a good point. Then, a thought occured to me. "But you'll give me a chance to prove it, right?" He seemed surprised as if it was obvious. "Of course."

I nodded again and headed for the door. As soon as I was outside and the door was closed behind me, I breathed a sigh of relief. So my job _could_ be saved after all. As I walked down the hallway towards my room, I discovered that I really didn't want to go back to my room. What would I do there? Stare out the window? I paused in the middle of the corridor, extracting curses and rude gestures from servants that were rushing to the kitchens to eat their dinners before they had to work again. An idea popped into my head and without thinking about it, I turned the other way and began to walk towards the training grounds.

I had explored the entire castle the day I got there, so now I knew basically where everything was. As I rounded to corner to the training field, I saw many soldiers sparring and exchanging helpful tips and fighting tactics. Mirela had had education with the combat arts and she taught me what she called "the basics". With the help of Mirela, I now knew how to use almost every weapon there was, with varying degrees of skill. My favourite and strongest weapon, however, was the bow. Since I'm shorter than most Ixians at 5'4", the bow is the perfect weapon for me, as it extends my reach and can defend and offend at the same time.

As I approached the training grounds, some of the soldiers stopped talking and fighting to watch me. I began to grow nervous. What if they resented anyone new? Would they even let me join their practises? Would they perhaps, even lend me a bow? Right, now, I wish that I had brought the bow that Mirela gave me for my brithday with me to the castle. Even holding it would make me look more formidable and less easy to bully around.

When I reached the fence that surrounded a field, one of the soldiers, a man with a shaved head and bangs lying limp on his forehead, walked towards me and met me at the gate. "What's the little girl doing here?" His voice was sneering and I immediately tagged him as the leader of the less friendly soldiers. "I was wondering if I might train with the rest of you," I replied firmly. Instead of treating me like an equal, the soldier threw back his sweaty head and laughed, his voice rough and scratchy, like overdried straw. "You.." he paused to hoot some more " You want to train...with us?" He seemed to be laughing too hard for words.

Anger boiled up inside me. "Of course, that's exactly what a coward would say. I bet you're just saying that because you're afraid that I'll beat you." He seemed even more amused by this and laughed even more obnoxiously. When he finally caught his breath, he said," No way in hell you can beat me. You're just one of those timid little secretaries that suck up to their bosses. Well let me tell you, even Valek can't protect you now." Clenching my teeth, I vaulted into the yard and asked a soldier to bring me a bow. By this time, a ring of spectators had crowded around us, eager for the fight to ensue.

What was I doing? He was a professional soldier! And I recieved basic weapons training from a retiring woman whose whereabouts are mysterious. Of course I would lose, and be horribly humiliated in the process. But Mirela had always told me to stand up for myself and so even if I lost, I would know I tried. The soldier returned with the bow. His hair was whitish blond and his curls were tight and close to his head. He nodded as he handed me the bow, showing his respect. Though that respect might be lost as soon as I was beaten thoroughly. But no, I wouldn't waste my energy thinking negatively. Instead, I focused on my strategy.

He was at least a head and a half taller than me, so I would have to use the bow's long reach to full advantage. He was probably also very quick, judging from the lightness of his steps. On the other hand, I had taken up acrobatics as a hobby when I lived with Mirela, so my flexibility and ability to land on my feet would be to my advantage. As I thought this through, another sldier with a buzz cut and a goatee brought the obnoxious soldier his bow. It was around as long as mine, so it would be a pretty fair fight.

"You ready, little girl?" he sneered. "Of course you're ready! Ready to lose!" He threw back his head and laughed at his own lame joke. My only satisfaction was that nobody else laughed at him, but just stared at him like he was crazy. A couple of soldiers that I immediately tagged as his goons joined in after a moment, laughing goofily. He smirked as he took up his ready stance and touched his bow to mine as a signal of respect for his opponent, even though he certainly didn't mean it. I stood in my ready stance also, my heart pounding with fear.

* * *

I will probably update every week or so thanks to an increase in my workload.

Try to guess who those soldiers were. :D:D:D

-Yelena Z


	4. Chapter 4

Wow, I never even noticed about Margg. Thanks for telling me! I'll make sure to spell it like that from now on! Thanks!

All disclaimers apply here and to the end of the story...

* * *

Chapter 4

Valek POV:

Closing and locking my office door, I looked down the corridor, wondering where I was supposed to be right now. No meetings today and I had already let Yelena go so now I could basically do whatever I wanted, which was quite rare these days. The Commander was probably right about the secretary thing, but no way was I going to confess that to him. After some internal debate, I finally decided to go to the training yard to get some more training done. While Yelena had copied that book on poisons, I had trained by myself in a little corner of the training yard but now I would go and challenge the soldiers to beat me. If they succeeded, they would become my seconds and be promoted.

After making a little detour to my suite to replenish my supply of darts, I headed to the training yard. The first thing that I noticed as I rounded the corner was the amount of noise. Even with over 200 soldiers training at a time, it had never gotten this loud before. Scanning the yard for the source of their excitement, I felt my jaw drop as I saw what it was. Yelena was preparing to fight one of the soldiers. I felt a little hurt. She hadn't told me she could fight, or I would have perhaps invited her to go to the training yard with me. No, actually, once I thought about it, I wouldn't have. But still.

Upon a second glance, I noticed that the weapon Yelena was holding was a bow. I smiled a little and mentally applauded her for her choice. It was perfect for someone of her stature, as it would extend her reach with her weapon. I scanned her face again, and noticed that she wore an expression of panic and nervousness although I could tell that she was trying to hide it. What the...? Sudden realisation dawned on me. It was probably her first fight, or if not, one of her first fights. I stalked a little closer, but not so much that the soldiers would notice, and leaned on the fence.

I wondered who was going to win. Then, immediately, I berated myself for my stupidity. _Of course _the other soldier, _was his name Nix?, _was going to win. He had been in the military for about 5 years now and she was, well, a rookie. Nix touched his bow to Yelena's as the starting show of respect and I caught a sneer on his face. I was going to have a talk to him later about that. Then, the fight began.

Nix began with a sloppy swipe at Yelena's legs, sloppy in my standards, of course. To my surprise, she not only was quick enough to jump and dodge it, she also was able to make a hit with her weapon, catching him on the soldier. Nix grunted with pain and went for her again, this time with more determination. I guessed that his pride would not allow him to let his companions see him lose a fight to a rookie. Yelena moved to the side and began to force him back, towards the fence. After I got over my shock, I realised that she was no rookie. She was good at this, very good. Now she stood a chance at beating me with her bow, but with further training, I was sure that she would be unstoppable.

Yelena proceeded to trap him against the fence, managing to evade all his attacks. A few seconds after, her bow smashed into his hands and he dropped his weapon. A silence pervaded as Yelena pressed her bow against his neck, telling him to concede. Nix's face, grimy with sweat and dust, was purple with embarrassment and anger. Not only had he failed to land any blows on her, she had also seemingly disarmed him effortlessly.

"I concede!" He yelled in a hoarse voice, following that with a curse. As she let him get up, he clenched his teeth in anger. When he was standing, he leaned in and whispered something in her ear, and judging from the expression on his face, it was probably a threat. Anger swept through me. How dare he threaten a defenceless woman? Well, not defenceless at all, actually. But now I was _definitely_ going to have a little chat with him and teach him some manners. As he walked past her, he bumped deliberately into her, making her stumble and almost fall. The jeers that followed him as he headed to the barracks made me feel better but not entirely.

Since the fight was now over, I vaulted over the fence and headed towards Yelena. She wore an expression of utmost surprise, as if she had not expected to win. How could she not? With that level of training, she should have surely known that the castle's soldiers would seem like amateurs compared to her. As I tried to decide whether or not to talk to her and reveal the fact that I was watching, two men detached themselves from the crowd of soldiers and went to talk to her. When I noticed that it was the Power Twins, Ari and Janco, I grinned. Perhaps they were going to invite Yelena to join their group to fight me. Hopefully. With Ari's strength, Janco's speed and Yelena's skill, it was almost for sure that they would beat me.

Waiting until they finished talking to her, I approached her. Her eyes widened once she recognised me and she looked mildly panicked again. At that moment, I cursed my reputation, although at times, I had to addmit it came in handy.

* * *

Yelena POV:

After I got over my alarm, curiousness took its place as Valek approached me. He was probably going to ask me how I managed to defeat that soldier, but I had no idea myself. It had been surprisingly easy. Mirela would have called him a very sloppy fighter indeed. Shouldn't the castle's guards be better trained? The fact that I could beat one of them must mean that they recieved no training at all. But that would be ridiculous. The Commander had gained the kingdom through the use of his advanced military. Surely he would keep up the same standards to prevent any revolutions.

Valek came closer until he was only around two feet away from me. I felt mildly uncomfortable being this close to him. "Who taught you?" he asked, his voice harsh with clipped tones. "Who trained you to fight even better than the Commander's soldiers are trained?" Sudden realisation dawned on me. So it _wasn't_ the soldiers that were bad at fighting, but it was _me_ that was good at it. What?

"Um...my adoptive mother," I mumbled. Valek stared at me for a long time and I grew even more uncomfortable under his intense gaze. But finally, he nodded once and turned on his heel to a small group of soldiers on the other side of the yard. Now that I was alone, I looked around. What should I do now? I spotted the soldiers that had talked to me earlier, the ones that asked me to have a match with them whenever I was free. I might as well do it now.

They picked up their bows as soon as they saw me coming. The one with the blond curls smiled, looking for a moment like a carefree young child and the thin one with the goatee tapped his boots on the ground as if he was impatient. "I've realised that we've forgotten to introduce ourselves," the blond man said. "But this is Janco, and I'm Ari, short for Ardenus." Janco grinned and leaned on his bow."He really prefers if you call him Ari instead of any other nicknames you can make up from the name Ardenus, which isn't many. I think it's because his mummy likes to call him Ardy and he doesn't want anyone to take her place." "I do not!" Ari shouted and threw a mock punch at Janco. He dodged good-naturedly and said,"So, you feel like having that match now?"

After hearing that amusing exchange, I no longer wanted to challenge them, but to get to know them better. I had no friends at the castle, and living in isolation with Mirela had done nothing for my social life. "Actually, not now, but maybe tommorrow. I just wanted to get to know everyone a bit better." They nodded their heads sagely like two grandfathers discussing the weather. "Well, the soldier that you just vanquished was Nix. I'll get a bag of gold that he isn't too happy about that right now and he's probably plotting revenge as he nurses his wounds," Ari told me. Janco laughed."I'd watch out if I were you. Holy snow cats, he looked pretty pissed off. But his only friend his probably his Captain, and that's only because he sucks up to him, so you don't have to worry about a whole group of soldiers ambushing you anytime soon." I didn't know if I believed Janco. There were many people that had been siding with him during his challenge, but that might have been due to the fact that they had expected _him_ to win and not me.

Changing the topic, I asked them if they would show me where the seamstress's rooms were, as that was the only place that I did not know how to get to and I desperately needed nightclothes. Even the Commander had commented on the wrinkly state of my uniform this morning. They agreed and led me inside, winding through the complex corridors that made up the castle and we arrived at a bright room near the kitchen. The seamstress looked up and I almost stepped back. She had honey blond curls and large laughing blue eyes that came with perfect features. To top it off, she also seemed to be a very kind and cheerful person. She had it all.

If Janco hadn't elbowed me in the ribs, I would have never noticed Ari's reaction. His cheeks were flushed pink as he greeted her and his smile was shy. The bold, confident man I had seen outside was gone, replaced with someone hopelessly smitten. I bit my lip to keep from laughing as she smiled at him and he stumbled over his words. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw a small head peep out from behind a tall stack of uniforms. Through closer inspection, I noted that it was a boy with the seamstress's -_I think Ari called her Dilana-_-hair and eyes. Dilana noticed me looking and smiled at me. She called for the boy, Aidan, and he can trotting over on his short legs. "This is my son Aidan, the castle's boy-of-all-trades. He basically lends a hand whereever it's needed. Aidan, this is..." Dilana's voice trailed off as she waited for my name. "Yelena," I said, kneeling down to the boy's level. "How are you Aidan?" He pursed his lips thoughtfully before responding. "I'm fine."

I grinned and shook his hand that he stuck out. He was a very cute child and I would enjoy seeing him around the castle. As far as I knew, he was the only person around here that was cute. Ari picked up the boy and swung him around, laughing. I wondered if Ari was the boy's father, but that would have been to personal of a question to ask. Dilana got us some bread and drinks and asked us if we needed anything. "Actually, yes," I said around a mouthful of bread. I meticulously chewed and swallowed it until I spoke again. "I was wondering if I could get some nightclothes." Dilana seemed confused. "Margg should have told me you didn't recieve any! You poor dear. Here, I'll get you some right away." She bustled around the room, stopping at various piles of clothes to pick some out.

Janco snorted. "Margg. Ah, one of the most funniest women on the earth." I frowned at him. All the time I had been here, nothing concerning Margg had been funny at all, just annoying and infuriating. Ari understood my confused expression. "Janco was a victim of hers once upon a time. I know, hard to believe,right? But when he was new, he was around 16 or 17, so she could pick on him with ease. It didn't help that he was the only new person to the castle for that year, during which she tormented him." I looked at Janco. It was hard to imagine _anybody _picking on him and harder to imagine why he thought she was funny.

Janco leaned back in his chair, his hands crossed behind his head. "I eventually tired of her viscious pranks so one day, I suggested to one of her more desperate soldiers that Margg had developed a tendre for him and was only waiting for him to make the first move. Needless to say, the poor soldier, which will remain anonymous, pursued her relentlessly throughout the whole year, giving her no time to plot anything evil against me." I laughed long and hard. Even though I had only known him for less than a day, this seemed exactly like the type of thing Janco would do. "What happened to that unlucky soldier?" I asked. "Did you eventually tell him?" Janco looked shocked. "Of course not! When he confronted me about Margg reluctance to engage in any sort of affair with him, I merely suggested one of the serving maids. Turns out I struck gold and she actually had a crush on him. As far as I know, they're still a couple today."

Dilana came back with my nightclothes and handed them to me. "You should be ashamed!" she scolded Janco. "For playing with his feelings like that." Janco now resembled a child that knew he had done something wrong and hung head. However, he immediately brightened and said,"Well, I can't really tell him now. He's seems to be very happy with his maid." Dilana and I exchanged a look of exasperation and soon we left after I thanked her for the nightclothes. The second day at the castle had been surprisingly eventful and I headed straight to my room without dinner, intent on sleep.

* * *

I'v realised that maybe paragraph form will make reading a whole lot less enjoyable to you guys so I decided I could skip a line every time someone else talks and leave the paragraph form for the descriptions and such. What do you guys think? Review and tell me please!

-YelenaZ


	5. Chapter 5

To clear up any confusion there may be, Yelena might end up discovering she has magic but for the moment, she doesn't know.

I'll start doing the new format, but I'm not used to it so be prepared for some more squinting. :D

* * *

Chapter 5

Valek POV:

The first week Yelena worked as my secretary passed without any problems. I basically left her in my office, with my important documents locked securely away, of course, and went off to train. I still hadn't given her a test of loyalty yet and I was still trying to think of something decent. Maybe I should allow her to overhear a piece of information about the Commander, false, of course, and then somehow give her an oppurtunity to betray the Commander. But if I did that, she still wouldn't be tested properly. She has to believe that she's under a viscious threat in order for me to see for sure which side she was on. After all, if I decided to trust her, she would have access to secrets that many people, especially Brazell or Rasmussen would pay big money for. It was entirely possible that she would be kidnapped, or hurt, or...I couldn't believe that I was becoming very afraid of what bad things could happen to her. Instead, I focused on making a decision. After nearly an hour of contemplation, I came up with a plan. I would leave a piece of paper with fake information on the desk for her to find. Of course, the information would be fake. Then, I would get a couple of my corps to kidnap her and threaten her with knives and whatnot if she did not tell them. I stopped breathing for a second, and made a note to make sure to talk to the two men chosen beforehand. I couldn't have Yelena _really _hurt could I? The worse that was going to happen to her is getting fired and leaving. My heart sank at that possibility. She just _had_ to stay, even if I didn't know why. Or...maybe I did know. Maybe I just didn't want to admit it. Maybe I lo-

A sharp brisk knock on the door startled me. "Come in!" I called.

Yelena shuffled into the room, avoiding any eye contact. She had given me the silent treatment all week and our communication had dwindled down to me telling her what books to copy and dismissing her at the end of each day. I didn't know what I had done to merit such behavior, but I really wanted to find out and fix it as soon as possible. I wasn't used to being ignored, and yes, I admit it, getting ignored by her especially hurt me.

Yelena sat across from me, her face neutral and waited for my instructions. I cleared my throat. "Um...Could I, er, talk with you for a few moments about something?" What was that? I never was at a loss for words. But my tongue seemed hopelessly tangled when I tried to talk to her. I tried again. "That is, I have a few things to discuss with you before I go to training."

Yelena said nothing. She just stared straight ahead. It was getting a little creepy now. She must be really mad to go to such lengths to insult me.

I finally decided that the best course of action would be to face the problem dead on. "Why are you acting like a spoiled little girl?" Woops. That came out the wrong way.

I watched as her face tightened with fury and she glared at me. Uh oh.

"I do not act as immature as you do, so you'll excuse me if I find that comment just a bit hypocritical. _You're_ the bastard that got mad at me just because I didn't tell you I could fight a little."

Impressive. Nobody had called me that before. To my face at least. So _that_ was why she was mad. I almost laughed in relief.

"Well, it's basically my business to know of any threats to the Commander. If you, a secretary, are able to beat his well-trained soldiers, then, it's my business to find out where you learned those tricks." Plus the fact that I had been really surprised by her skill. And hurt by the fact that she hadn't told me about herself, even though I had only known her for a day.

Yelena seemed to become even more mad. Just as she opened her mouth again, my office door opened and a little blond head popped inside the room.

"I thought I heard people arguing," said the little boy. Frowning at him, I finally remembered that he was Dilana's son.

The little boy pointed imperiously at me. "You made my best fwiend upset!" he accused witha slight lisp. To my surprised, he walked up to me and he smacked my arm rather painfully.

Yelena burst out laughing and wouldn't stop even after 5 minutes. Between hoots of laughter, she praised the boy and gave him a hug. I sighed. The little boy disappeared again and I was left with an arm that was still stinging a bit. Great. When she finally quieted down, I asked her if I was forgiven yet. Her face became guarded once more.

"Only because Aidan gave you what you deserved", was her only response. She then reached for a book she hadn't finished copying yet and began to do so, ignoring me again. But the tension was gone, and I even felt a pinch of gratitude towards Aidan.

Instead of heading to training immediately after she started copying, I sat at my desk and observed her for a while. A little line had formed between her eyebrows and my fingers itched to reach out and smooth it. A lock of dark hair fell in front of her face and I felt the urge to tuck it behind her ear. A shiver travelled down my back. I could tell that this was developing into something dangerous and that if I didn't stop myself, I would start acting like Rand around Dilana. And that was not a pretty image...

She looked up when she realised that I was still sitting in front of her and frowned at me. My heart stopped and I marveled at her beauty for the millionth time that day. The lock of hair fell in front of one eye, and without thinking about it, I brushed it gently from her face.

Silence pervaded and it was so quiet that I could hear her breathing. It was rather fast and short, I thought dispassionately, but that was probably because she was in shock. Hell, _I _was in shock. Why had I done that. Our eyes met and we stared at one another. In order to preserve any dignity I had left, I bade her good bye and left for the training yard. When I looked back as I closed the door, she was leaning down and copying again, as if nothing had happened.

* * *

Yelena POV:

He touched my cheek! Or rather, he brushed against it as he tucked my hair behind my ear. The moment his skin had come in contact with mine, I felt a rush of heat rush to my cheeks and my heart warmed. I groaned. I really hoped that I didn't blush or do something stupid that I wasn't aware of yet. The expression in his eyes-loving? Affectionate?-had taken my breath away. Or maybe I was just overthinking everything like usual and the gesture had meant nothing at all. But I could hope, couldn't I?

When I was dismissed for the day, I went to train with Janco and Ari. After ending with a tie at both matches, they suggested that we train together. I accepted, because I had nothing to do after I was done for the day except sleep, take a bath and look out for any trust tests Valek might send my way. After training, we ate dinner together and then went to Dilana's, mostly for Ari's sake, though I was beginning to like her myself. Her kindness and warmth must draw a lot of people close just like moths to a flame.

Today, however, when I reached the yard, there was something different waiting for me. Somehow, Valek had managed to reach the training yard before I did after he dismissed me, probably due to the various shortcuts in the corridors, and he was sparring with a soldier. As I watched, he disarmed his opponent and gestured for the next man to begin. I didn't know why I was surprised. I guess that I didn't really imagine him training with common soldiers. I would have thought he trained by himself, or with an exclusive group of assassins or something. His movements were graceful and lethal at the same time. I knew for sure that even after years of more training, I still wouldn't be able to beat him.

"Hey, Yelena!" Janco called as he and Ari came towards me.

"He's in an teasing mood today, so you better steer clear of him," warned Ari.

"Why?" I asked and Janco grinned widely.

"Looking at your darling Valek, weren't you?"

I gasped in partial surprise, part despair and part anger. "_What?"_

"You know, the man that you dream of each night, whose window under which you serenade, who-OW!" Janco stepped away as Ari elbowed him hard in the gut.

"Don't mind him, he's eaten too many sweet cakes today. And don't worry, we'll keep your secret," Ari told me in a reassuring voice.

"But...but I don't _have_ a secret!" I tried to tell them, but they only stood there, looking at me knowingly.

"Poor girl." Janco tsked. "She's still in denial. They say that that is one of the signs of true lo-" He stopped talking as I stepped on his toe.

"Alright, alright," he grumbled.

At that moment, Valek had decided to walk over to us. As he came closer, I felt my cheeks flush, because of the incident this morning and because of Janco's teasing. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Janco nudging Ari in excitement and looking at us gleefully.

Valek pointed to the soldiers behind him. "I've fought most of them numerous times, but you two very rarely and Yelena never. So, would you three agree to a match?"

We all agreed, with me as the most reluctant and Ari went up first. He lasted longer than the other soldiers but eventually Valek won because of his tactics, speed, and...whatever extra tricks he possessed that I was not aware of. Janco lasted around the same length of time, but eventually, he lost too. Valek gestured for me to step forward, and I did, hesitating for a moment.

"You can do it, Yelena!" Janco cheered and Ari agreed.

"Do you think you can beat me?" I whirled around to face him, only to find that he was standing closer than I remembered.

I resisted the urge to step back, because to me, that would be admitting defeat. "Maybe. We'll see."

He laughed softly and leaned in closer, so that for a moment, I thought he was going to kiss me. But, of course not. He stepped away from me and bent down to pick up his bow. I felt strangely disappointed. I pushed away that thought and forced myself to concentrate. Valek was going to very very hard to beat. _'But you can beat him'_, I told myself.

Clutching my bow tightly, I stood in my battle stance.

* * *

Yes, I know. Horrible chapter ending, but I didn't really feel like describing a fight right now.

Thanks for the tips people! :)

-Yelena

PS. The romance may be slow, but it will get there.


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks for all your reviews!:D

About Dilana, Rand and Ari, all will be revealed at a later chapter...

* * *

Chapter Six

Valek POV:

She stood before me with a determined expression on her face, one that I had seen many times before on various soldiers. I had seen her fight Nix and I now knew that she was flexible as well as fast. But not as fast as me.

I touched my bow to hers and then quickly swiped at her feet. She nimbly leaped to avoid it and our match began in earnest. I had to admit, she was good. As good as the Power Twins and maybe even better. But while Janco had speed and Ari strength, she had tactics as well as speed. Her strength was average for a woman, I discerned as I blocked one of her strikes, but definitely not as strong as me. Using this advantage, I put more and more strength into my strikes and I could see that she was tiring from both evading the blows and blocking them.

Then, she did something surprising, but not totally unexpected. She flipped over me and landed behind me, forcing me to whirl around before she could attack me from behind. I began the tedious temple strikes again, while realising that she must have had some acrobatic training in order to learn to do those tricks. She really _was_ getting tired now, I could tell from her lagging feet and slower reactions. More and more of my blows were landing on her, and I knew that a victory would happen soon. Impatient, I stabbed the bow towards her ribs like a dagger but something ripped the bow from my hands before it could hit her.

She had done some kind of twirling motion with her bow, one that I had seen only once before, but could never really imitate. One that my teacher had tried endless times to drill into me without success. One that I thought that I had seen the last of. My bow flew through the air and landed some feet away. With some irritation, I realised that the large crowd that had gathered around us were all staring with their jaws drooping towards the floor. For a moment, shock took over my senses. Never in any of the castle challenges had I ever been disarmed. I wouldn't cheat by using the hidden weapons I had on me now, so the only option was to beat her by hand.

When she made a flurry of strikes towards my midsection, I dodged them and stepped on close to her, too close for her bow to hit anything with accuracy, speed or force. I hit one of her wrists with a palm and her bow dropped on the floor. Kicking it out of the way, I grinned at her. Now we were evenly matched, weapon-wise at least. I could tell she also had some training in hand to hand combat but she wasn't as good with it as she was with her bow. Soon, I had her pinned on the ground and she conceded. When I let her up, she brushed the dirt from her face and shook my hand, seeming awed as she did so. But I really could not imagine her as awed as I was. Nobody had ever come this close to beating me before. Now it was truly essential that I find out where she came from, why she's at the castle and above all, who taught her those moves.

The crowd surged in to congratulate her but before I let her go, I told her in a low voice that I would have some questions for her later. She looked at me sharply then looked away. I realised that this probably reminded of the time I had treated her so harshly after she beat Nix. But thanks to Aidan, I had no intention of doing so now. We would simply sit down in my office and discuss it in a civil manner.

I bumped my way out of the crowd and went to the Commander's office to give my report.

"This secretary of yours, Yelena, are you sure that she was taught by your mentor?" the Commander asked after I had told him everything.

"It's possible, as she used that same move that I found impossible to imitate," I replied.

The Commander emitted one of his rare bursts of laughter. "I find it hard to believe that you would admit you couldn't do something."

I shot him a rueful glance. "You've beaten me before, many times. Ever since the first time, my humility has sprung into existance. Even though I never was snobby about my fighting skills."

"You digress, Valek. What are you going to do about her? I think you should start by finding out all the details of her life and why she came here for her job and then, maybe since she managed to disarm you, you should take her on as your second."

Of course he would manage to bring up the topic of my non-existant second into this. I sighed. "I'll find out everything about her, but as for the second idea, I don't think that such a wise move."

The Commander raised his eyebrows. "Why not? She came closer to beating you than anybody else we've tried, so it would seem that she's the best candidate. Assuming that she doesn't have a criminal reason for coming here, of course. Once you find out why she's here, and if she is indeed not a criminal, then she will become your second."

I opened my mouth to argue, but the determined expression on the Commander's face stopped me. I sighed instead and agreed, leaving his office soon after. I still had to set up a loyalty test for her, so I found two of my corps and recruited their help. I explained the situation, and told them and to "kidnap" her and where to take her as well as ensuring that she would not be hurt during the process.

"But, sir, if she's not hurt, it wouldn't seem like a kidnapping attempt, really," protested Pilos, the shorter of the two.

I frowned. "Make it as realistic as you can without hurting her. Threaten her with all the weapons you might have on you, but don't use a single one on her. If you hurt a single hair on her head, there will be severe consequences." I gave them my "assassin stare" and hoped that would get my point across.

"We understand, sir," said James, the other man.

I nodded and turned to leave, but not before I overheard Pilos whispering to James that I had "gone soft-hearted on the secretary, the poor woman". I gritted my teeth. Was my infatuation for her really _that_ obvious? And was I really such a repulsive person? Something to think about on a rainy day, maybe, but not now. I headed for my office and got a piece of fresh paper. Now I had to forge a document that's convincingly real. In the end, I just wrote that General Kitvivan was going to be demoted to Colonel because of a scandal involving bribery. I really could not think of anything else to make up, and I had no idea why anyone would want to pay money for that kind of information, but hopefully Yelena would not think so as well. After leaving it strategically positioned on my desk (like it was carelessly left there) I went back to Pilos and James to tell them what to ask her.

Locking up my office for the day, my thoughts dwelled on her. Would she pass? Or would she betray me? I discovered that I desperately wanted her to be able to stay at the castle, so that I could talk with her, train with her, just be with her each day. Shaking my head, I briefly considered getting drunk, but I hadn't gotten drunk ever since I became an assassin, as it was dangerous for someone like me. I had, however, drank when the occasion had demanded it, not enough to get intoxicated, but to become calmer. And yes, I admit it, I felt quite panicked. Forcing myself to think about anything but the test of loyalty, I went to look for a bottle of wine.

* * *

_The next day..._

Yelena POV:

I waited outside of his office as usual. On the first day, I thought that he was usually very punctual and occasionally late but now I knew that he was late all the time. Even for meetings with the Commander. Everyone seemed used to it, but I found it odd that a security chief and someone with so much political power could afford to be late. When he finally arrived, he didn't immediately open the door, but just stared at me for a while.

"Good luck," he said abruptly, then looked as if he was sorry he spoke at all.

"For what?"

"Nothing."

As he unlocked the three bolts on the door, I shook my head. Men could be so strange.

He stood back and gestured for me to enter. "Ladies first."

I turned my head to look at him. He had never done that before. And I had been a lady for this whole week, I knew for sure. He met my glance with raised eyebrows and a cold look so I just hurried inside. He briskly handed me a book and then left. I felt disappointed and slightly hurt at this. All those mornings he had at least made some small talk, but now it was like he didn't care anymore.

An hour later, I took a short break to relieve the cramps that had developed in my hand. Looking around the room, I saw something out of place: a document with the Commander's seal on it. I quickly looked around and listened outside to make sure he wouldn't burst in on me before I gave in to my curiosity.

It was an order issued by the Commander. Apparently, General Kitvivan had taken bribes offered by diamond smugglers and so had been demoted to a Colonel. I wondered how the Commander would have known, but immediately berated myself for being stupid when I remembered Valek. Then it hit me that Valek had been very careless in leaving this on his desk in plain sight. But Valek didn't strike me as the careless type so he must have meant for it to be there. The test of trust!

But what did he want me to do? Just keep it a secret? In that case, I would just keep my mouth shut for the entire month. I had never been a gossip like Margg so this was going to be easier than I thought. My short break over, I went back to copying.

As I copied more and more, I was learning things that I had never known existed. For example, I found out that there was a poison called Tigtus that was very effective. One grain of the poison would kill within the hour but it was given away by the scent it gave off :rosewood. Valek probably kept a jar of every poison somewhere locked up except for when he needed it. I felt sorry for some of his victims that would die a slow, pain death by a slow-killing poison. But then, he had never struck me as a sadistic man, despite his reputation. Could it be true that he wasn't as terrifying as everyone said he would be?

I wondered about his personal life. Like what his family thought of his profession. Was there anybody special in his life? The idea of Valek with a woman failed to form in my mind. The woman would have to trust him very much in order to be with him without fearing him every day. I wondered if he loved anybody, in a romantic way. He seemed cold on the outside but I wondered if it was just a mask to conceal the person within. He had touched my cheek yesterday, and I felt my temperature increase just by thinking about it. No, he couldn't be a metal statue all the way through. There was someone hidden inside, definitely someone worth knowing.

Later when Valek dismissed me, he came outside of the office with me and locked the door. I opened my mouth to talk with him but he had already turned away. When I headed towards the training area, he headed the other way without a word. As I passed by one of the empty storerooms on my way out, I noticed that the door was slightly ajar. That was strange. The doors of this hallway were usually locked, since nobody came here that often.

Before I could react, a pair of hands whipped out and snatched me, pulling me inside. I squirmed and fought, but the two men inside were too strong. They tied me up against the wall and gagged me. I pulled against the ropes but they were expertly tied. I coughed when I tried to scream due to the gag.

A bright lantern swung in front of my face. Squinting in the sudden light, I could tell that the men were two of the new soldiers, based on their uniforms. The taller of the two reached out and brushed the hair from my eyes. I swung my head wildly, trying to get away from his touch.

"She's prettier than I thought," remarked the tall man. The leer in his voice made me freeze with fright. No, please let it not be rape. I could hear my breathing, short and ragged, get faster.

"She's scared, ain't she?" The shorter man came up to me and ran his finger down my neck. Panic took hold of me and I thrashed to no avail.

"Feisty too. I like them that way, myself." The tall man leaned in close to my ear. "Listen to me, girly. In a moment, we are going to remove your gag. You will not scream, or make any noise that will alert people of where we are. Or else, you see this?" He produced a long, wickedly sharp knife that gleamed in the light of the lantern. "We'll kill you, slowly. Maybe we'll let you bleed out, or cut off a finger first. Trust us, we know what we're doing." He paused. "On the other hand, if you give us the information we want, we'll just kill you straight off. Or maybe, we'll even have a little fun before we do that. You up for it?

* * *

I've thought out the entire plot of the story already, but it will take many chapters to finish.

I don't know if I should write the whole story here, or start a new story as a sequel...

I know the storeroom thing was in the book, but I had no ideas at the time.

Plus, before you guys ask, the "questions" Valek wants to ask Yelena is going to be in the next chapter, or the one after.

-YelenaZ


	7. Chapter 7

This time, I will start with Yelena's point of view, as it seems the logical way to go...

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Chapter 7

Yelena POV:

The two men regarded me. The taller one took hold of my chin in his left hand and held it firmly so that I had no choice but to look into his face. I tried to break free of his hold but it was no use. I could not get free. Fear had invaded my mind and confused it. But one thought broke through the haze of fear. The man had said that he had questions for me. But I knew nothing! I had not been part of any conspiracies since I had arrived at the castle that I had known of, and I had lived in a very remote area before I came here, so it was impossible that I would know the information that they wanted. But if I didn't tell them something, they would probably kill me. To my surprise, I almost burst out in hysterical laughter. These things were always happening to _me_. My life was always going to be in a lose-lose situation.

The shorter man looked at me coldly. "If you don't tell us the truth, we'll make sure that you get what you deserve, girly."

"Enough threats!" I blurted. "Just ask your question already!"

They looked at each other and began to laugh, almost maniacly. If I wasn't in this position right now, I would be dissolving in tears of mirth at the ridiculousness of their laughter.

The shorter man barked," What are they going to do to General Kitvivan?"

I almost gaped in shock. Of course, that was impossible to do with the tall man gripping my chin like that, so I just settled for staring at him. I hadn't thought that I would actually know the answer to the question they were going to ask me. Then, suspicion slowly weaved into my mind. It was just too convenient for me to find that document on Valek's desk and then have these goons kidnap me and question me about it right after. I briefly considered this as the test of trust, but immediately dismissed the thought. Valek wouldn't hire two thugs to threaten me with knives and rape just so he would know whose side I was on, would he? No. He might be an assassin, but I didn't think that he would go to such extremes. So, in that case, this situation was entirely real.

"I don't know." Even if he hadn't set this situation up, I still wasn't going to betray the Commander. Mirela had told me all about the King's tyranny over the people and the supreme injustice of his court. If the Commander saved the people of Ixia from that, he deserved my loyalty.

The tall man flashed his knife in front of my face again. The sharp edge glinted in the lantern's dim glow. "We know you saw the document. Unless you want to be missing an arm, _tell us everything now_."

I bit my lip. Would I remain loyal even if I had to give up an arm? The answer was yes. Mirela had taught me that men like the Commander usually eventually became corrupt and hogged power and riches. The Commander had not. He had remained true to his people through good times and bad for over a decade now. I would do the same.

But was this really important enough to lose an arm over? I mean, what harm would it do to tell these men. It hardly mattered if they knew; they couldn't do anything about it anyways. I shook my head to stop second guessing myself.

"Not going to talk? Fine." The tall man looked grim as he reached for his knife and held my arm closer. I bit my tongue to keep from screaming; if I did, they would probably cut more limbs off. As the cold steel of the knife made contact with my skin, I felt the darkness at the edges of my vision close in. Everything went black.

* * *

Valek POV:

I sat at the chair next to my bed, admiring her profile in the semi-light of the dusk as I waited for her to come to. When Pilos and James came out of the storeroom with her in their arms, my vision became red with anger. I remembered shouting and cursing at them, demanding an explanation of why she was unconcious.

"She was willing to have her arm cut off. I wasn't going to do it, so it was the only option left. What was I supposed to do? Just let her go and say 'Congratulations! You've passed the test!'?" James had said, shrugging as if it wasn't his fault.

Alright, maybe it wasn't his fault, but did he _have_ to knock her out? The only thing that had prevented me from throwing one of my knives at him was the fact that she was unharmed, though unconscious. The sleeping juice would wear off in about half and hour with no side effects. I had then dismissed them both curtly for the day and then stood in the hallway for a moment, wondering where to take Yelena.

I couldn't take her back to her room, because those hallways were usually crowded with servants at this time of the day and I didn't want to create a scene. I can just imagine Margg gossiping to a serving maid off duty. "Did you know he was carrying her in his arms? Like they just got married! Oh ho, Valek is finally going to be snatched up, by none other than his little secretary!" So I had decided to take her to my suite.

By the time I had gotten inside (unlocking the door while carrying someone was no easy feat, though Yelena was very light) I realised that most of the rooms in the suite were cluttered up with the things that I had collected over the years. In fact, there was no place to put her, except for my bedroom. I had hesitated, wondering what her reaction would be, but in the end, against my better judgement, I had carried her up the stairs and into the room.

Once I laid her onto my bed, confusing feelings swept through me, unsettling me. To avoid doing anything that I would regret, I left her on the bed and sat on the chair, waiting for the inevitable to happen. As I watched now, her eyelids fluttered once, twice, and then her beautiful eyes opened to look at me.

She sat up slowly and looked through squinted eyes at her surroundings. When she looked down at the bed, her cheeks turned red. With anger? Embarrassment? I did not know.

"Where...?" she murmured.

"In my bedroom." That sounded too abrupt. "I carried you here after you passed out."

She didn't seem to care that she had been unconscious. "_Your bedroom_!"

"Ah...yes. I didn't know where else to take you after..."

"After my test of loyalty? I figured. I never thought that you would tell someone to threaten to rape me or cut off limbs!"

I reacted instinctively. "How would I know if you could still be trusted in dangerous situations? There is every chance that you will be abducted for the information you will possess. If you don't want the job, you're welcome to leave tomorrow morning!"

Her face paled, as if she was afraid of losing the job. She didn't say anything, just got out of the bed hurriedly, nearly falling after she tripped, and headed to the door, only to find it locked. She stood in front of it with her stubborn expression until I went and unlocked the bolts for her. She then marched out of my suite and out to the hallway, persumably going back to her room.

I stood at the doorway of my suite and looked after her. Would she still be this mad tomorrow morning? I immediately shuddered at the thought. Tomorrow I had planned to ask her the questions that I'd said I'd ask her, about who her teacher was and why she came here. Sighing, I head to the library again. Time to have a good think again. Ever since she came, I had been going there more and more. I bet the Commander would be laughing until tears overflowed his cheeks if he ever guessed the effect she had on me.

When I reached my favorite chair, I had an optimistic thought. Since she passed the test, she would not be forced to leave the castle. She would be able to stay as long as she chose. Of course, she had every reason to choose to go. I sank into depression once again.

I stood up suddenly as I heard a rustling in the bookshelves behind me. A small blond head peeped out from the shadows. I groaned internally. Aidan again?

"Hiya!" he said with a wide smile and bound out to stand in front of me.

"Won't your mother be looking for you?"I crossed my arms and tried to look like an angry man.

"Nope."He slipped behind me and sat in my chair, seeming unaffected by my "anger".

Sighing, I dragged another chair close so I could sit and face him. "Why are you here?"

Aidan giggled. "Because I'm bored. And you're here, so I could talk to you."

"Aren't you scared of me?"

"No, why should I?" He looked at me questioningly.

I decided not to tell him. Leaning back, I closed my eyes. It seemed that life was plotting against me once again.

"What's wrong, Valek?"

"You wouldn't possibly understand," I said, and immediately felt guilty because my older brothers had always said that to me.

"I can understand anything! You can tell me! I won't tell anybody! Pwomise!"

He stuck out his pinky and offered it to me with a hopeful expression. I tried to ignore him, but his face took on an extremely sad expression. Sighing again, I leaned forward to hook my pinky with his and shook.

"Alwight! You can tell me anything now, and I won't say anything to _anybody_!"

"No telling even your mother." I couldn't believe that I was actually considering telling this little boy my problems.

"Not even Mum."

I sucked in a deep breath. "Well, you see, there is this...girl... that I like. I want to be...friends...with her but I did something to make her mad so now I don't think she will ever...like...me. I don't know what to do to make her...like...me again. If she ever...liked... me in the first place. "

Aidan nodding his head knowingly. "It's Yelena, isn't it?"

I nearly fell off my seat in shock. I hadn't expected for him to have such accurate perceptions of the world. Plus the fact that I had never really talked to him or been around him before so he would have no way of knowing.

"Ah...It _might _be her."

He looked at me with a deadpan expression as if he was mad at me for lying.

"Well, if it _is _her, I might be able to help you. Me and her are friends now so I can just tell her that you want to be friends again." He beamed angelically at me.

"NO...NONONO! Don't tell her that!"

"Why not?"

"Ah...because that might make her even more mad?"

"No, it won't!"

I sighed in frustration for the zillionth time that day. "Just don't tell her, alright? Promise me!" I held out my pinky.

For a moment, he looked like he wasn't going to promise but eventually he slowly extended his pinky and shook mine.

"Good. Not another word to _anyone_ on this subject, alright?" I left the library before he could argue. If anyone heard of this, I would become the laughingstock of the castle. The most feared man in Ixia...running away from a little boy.

Setting my mouth grimly, I mentally prepared myself for what would happen tomorrow and went to bed early.

* * *

Gwidlet: The Nix idea wouldn't really work out because Valek knows that Nix hates Yelena, so he wouldn't assign Nix.

-YelenaZ


	8. Chapter 8

Thanks for reviewing! Keep it up! :D

* * *

Chapter 8

Valek POV:

She was still mad after two weeks. I know that what I had done was necessary, but I was beginning to regret it, just a little bit now. She wouldn't talk unless it was absolutely needed, just nodding when I told her to decode a message or copy a document. Yes, I could now trust her, but I would never be able to think about that without thinking of the price of that trust. I also thought about the fact that I had asked a four year old for love advice. I merely shook my head on that thought.

Today, I had a lot of work for her. There was a large pile of messages, as my spies in Sitia had somehow managed to send their findings to me and have them all arrive on the same day. She had no comment for the huge pile, she just pulled over the book of codes that were invented by an Ixian strategist long ago and started working.

Usually, when she worked, I would either go and train, or do some more paperwork of my own. Yes, even with a secretary, there was still enough work to keep me busy. Today, I sat at my desk and pretended to read a book, as I thought about her.

The few days following the test, I could tell that she was very angry with me. I had caught her clenching her fists now and then when she thought that nobody was looking. I had waited until she cooled down some more before offering her the position of my second, which the Commander had insisted on. To my relief, she refused right away and went back to work without offering any explanation. I had reported to the Commander that evening and told him the news. As I expected, he was not pleased.

"Valek, you need her," the Commander had said firmly. "If she refuses, then the decision no longer rests with her. I will order her to take the job. If she chooses to leave the castle rather than take the post, we will have to concoct some reason for her to stay."

I groaned out loud. Yelena looked up curiously and I stared hard at the book again. As a way of appeasing the Commander, I had agreed to take care of it, even though I still didn't know what to do now. Perhaps I was hoping for a miracle to happen and have Yelena change her mind and agree. I wondered what it would be like to have her for a second. Of course, I had never had a second before, as nobody in the castle had beat me besides the Commander, but I had a feeling that it would be similar to me interacting with my corps, only on a more frequent basis. I would see and talk and plan with her everyday as well as go on missions with her. My mood lifted slightly at the thought of being around her all the time, then plummeted again as I remembered that she refused and showed no sign of changing her mind.

What could I do to persuade her? The Commander was not going to let up about this; he had been hounding me on getting a second for years, so he was definitely not going to give up when a suitable candidate shows up. If I wasn't able to convince her...I shuddered slightly at the thought of what the Commander would do. It's not that he's a cruel man, but he realises what Ixia needs and so is willing to sacrifice the rights of one person to benefit the whole.

Maybe if I told her how much she would earn each month, compared to now, she would accept. She had refused so adamantly before. After questioning her for an hour due to her annoying stubbornness, I found out she was working because her adoptive mother, Mirela, of MD 4 needed somebody to support her. I had pointed out that basic neccesities like food and clothing were provided, but Yelena had told me that Mirela needed money for medicine. Apparently, they lived in a remote area with no healers, so they needed to buy medicines at the local market. As for where she gained her fighting skills, it was Mirela that had taught her. I had a keen interest in this Mirela now, since my own teacher was also a woman. And in my experiences, there were no such things as coincidences. I had sent one of my corps to ferret out where she lived a week ago but the man had not returned to tell me yet.

"Yelena." She looked up at me questioningly, her face expressionless.

"When I asked you if you would like the job as my second, you refused. Is your answer still the same?"

She nodded slowly, wariness seeping into her eyes.

"What if I told you that your salary would be five times as much as it is now?"

She gaped, then snapped her jaw shut once she realised what she was doing. I paused and gave her some time to think it over. I could sense her inner turmoil. Mirela or having to work with the sadistic assassin all the time?

"Take your time." I pushed my chair away from the desk and strode to the door. At least she was considering the idea. There was no reason why I couldn't train some more as she thought.

* * *

Yelena POV:

Five times more than I earned now! I had to do the math on paper to know what that would be. Even so, I knew that it would be a lot of money. With this money, Mirela would even be able to hire someone to look after her and do the chores. She would no longer have to get by by herself and I wouldn't have to worry about something happening to her. But on the other hand, having to be around Valek all the time? The man that had me kidnapped and threatened? I knew that my anger was petty and that he had to test me thoroughly to make sure whose side I was on, but I couldn't help feeling that way.

To avoid hurting my head trying to decide, I turned my attention to work. Being an assassin's secretary was actually quite an interesting job after I stopped copying all those books. The messages had come from Sitia and the spies were basically reporting every single detail that had captured their attentions as well as every other detail that was not interesting at all. One of them stood out from the rest. It was sent by a spy from the Zaltana clan's territory, the Illias Jungle. The spy reported that one of the Zaltana women, by the name of Perl Liana Zaltana, had extracted a substance from a plant that could paralyse a person as well as take away their magical ability, leaving them virtually defenseless. It was called Curare.

I shuddered at the thought. This Curare drug did not discriminate, it would be able to paralyse both magicians and non magicians. If it got into the wrong hands...I refused to think about what would happen. That was for Valek and his people to figure out. Then I realised that I would become one of his "people" if I accepted his offer. I was never going to get any work done unless I took some time to decide. It should be easy, I mean, all I had to do was to decide what was more important: Mirela or my happiness and safety. But once I put it that way, I knew that I would pick Mirela. After all, she probably sacrificed some of her happiness and some of her safety to look after me.

When he got back from training, I would tell him I accepted. But would that make me seem too eager? I fought the indecision once again by finishing translating everything. He came back late this time, just before dinnertime. He asked me the question again and I told him that I would tell him tomorrow, with a haughty expression of course.

As I went towards the kitchen, I was stopped by Ari and Janco.

"Why didn't you come train before dinner?" Ari asked. They fell in step with me.

"I had extra work to do today." I made a face to show my irritation.

"So, how's life as Valek's secretary? You two have been spending a lot of time together, haven't you?" Janco teased. He would never get it out of his head that Valek and I were an item, even though it was a totally ridiculous concept.

He stopped laughing when I glared at him. "No, we haven't been, Janco. He's been going to training basically everyday, while I translate documents."

Ari pushed us into the hallway leading to Dilana's workroom. "I want to go and see her before dinner."

I sighed. Ari was heads over heels for Dilana, I had discerned from my three weeks or so at the castle. Dilana herself was undecided. She didn't know whether to be with Rand or Ari. I just wished that she would hurry up, so that either Ari could finally be content or so that Ari would get over her.

"I'm hungry," Janco complained in a whiny voice. Ari elbowed him in the ribs, preventing him from saying anything more.

When we reached the workroom, we saw that Dilana was alone, sewing in a sunny corner and humming a cheerful tune. Her face brightened as she spotted us. "You came to visit!"

Ari grinned back at her. "Of course, what else would we want to be doing?"

"Eating dinner," Janco blurted, before Ari shoved both Janco and I out the door.

As soon as we were out, Janco said that he needed to do something before dinner and disappeared. I headed alone, once again to the kitchen. Only to be interrupted _again_.

I gasped when I saw who stopped me in the hall and I threw my arms up in a defensive position, ready to fight. It was the tall man that had threatened me in that storeroom! He touched my arm to make me calm down. I flinched then I lowered my arms slowly, relaxing as I remembered that Valek had hired him to kidnap me, and that it had been just a ruse.

"I'm James," he smiled warmly and reassuringly at me. "Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything. You know now that it was a test, don't you? Anyways, I want to apologise for treating you and scaring you like that even though Valek assigned me."

I smiled cautiously back. It was nice of him to apologise even though he had no choice about it. Unlike Valek, who didn't say anything nice at all about it. He was just his own brusque self.

"I was thinking, I want to do something to make up for what Pilos and I did to you. We went a bit overboard. Valek yelled at us about it." He grinned ruefully.

"Oh, no, it's really alright. You were assigned by Valek."

"No, let me make it up to you. Why don't we go to dinner at the Monkey's Fist Tavern at Castletown the day after tomorrow? That way, we can erase any bad memories you might have of Pilos and I."

He was a true gentleman. Unlike Valek. What would Valek do when he found out that I went to dinner with somebody? Nothing, I supposed, but that thought irked me. On the other hand, what if James was trying to get me to run blindly into a trap? Then I'd truly be in trouble then. But I had never been to Castletown before and eventually my curiousity won over.

"I'd love to come," I replied after a moment of thought.

"Great! I'll meet you by the east gate of the castle wall before dinnertime the day after tomorrow then."

He waved and disappeared down a corridor. I shook my head. The whole encounter had happened so fast that I barely processed what had happened. When it hit me that I was going to dinner with somebody, I raced back to my room. I knew little of these things, but I knew that I should dress up. The Commander didn't allow anybody to be out of uniform and no excuses were accepted. So, I would have to fix up my uniform to make it look nicer. Luckily, my uniform came with an option of pants or a skirt, so I would be able to wear the skirt to dinner. My top would have to be the same, but I could perhaps get Dilana to make some alterations to it to make it look more attractive. My mind made up, I raced to the kitchen once more to get my late dinner. Nobody better interrupt me this time.

* * *

Dinner date!

I know this chapter was uneventful, but something will happen next chapter...I think

-YelenaZ


	9. Chapter 9

Don't worry, I will say that this is a Yelena/Valek story as it says in the story description.

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Valek POV:

Shock took over my senses. Had Yelena just accepted to go on a date with someone? An emotion that I was not familiar with lurked spread quickly within my heart. Upon more thought and observation, I realised that it was pure jealousy. Jealousy in this situation meant only one thing. I no longer had to have an internal debate on whether I loved her or not, I _knew_ that I was. Everything about her: her stubborness, her kindness, her courage, everything about her was as important to me as my own life. Even more so. I watched as James waved good-bye to her and went off. I considered accosting her to ask why she would accept, but I stopped myself. First of all, she was already angry at me for the test, second of all, I didn't want her to know that I had heard everything and thirdly, that would probably give away my emotions.

I somehow ended back in my suite. I slumped onto the sofa. From what I heard other people, mostly soldiers, say, love didn't happen like this. A sudden realisation out of thin air. But then, it hadn't really been sudden, had it? I now knew that I had been gradually falling in love with her ever since she had arrived, and had only realised it now. Picking up one of my statues off the table, I examined it. I had not wanted to fall for her, but now that I already had, I would have to do something about it. Obviously, I couldn't tell her, since she'd probably get even more disgusted with me. Thinking back on how eagerly she had agreed to go with James, I found out how much I wanted desperately her to love me back.

But that was impossible. She hated me for making her do through a mock kidnapping attempt. She was my secretary! I wondered how our business-like relationship had turned to _this_. Right now, I needed a vent for my sorrow at the fact that she would never love me and my jealousy of James. I stood up abruptly as an idea occured to me and threw the statue back on the table. I raced up to my carving studio and selected a rock from the large pile in the corner. Sitting at the chair, I stared at the rock in my hand, waiting for inspiration to come to me.

In the end, after long hours of work, I was done. It was a butterfly, beautifully poised as if to take flight, its wings gracefully unfurled. As I had carved the delicate creature, I had thought about Yelena. How she seemed to be easy to dominate and control at times but really had a hidden strength inside. I had thought about her beauty, which existed both on a physical level as well as in her soul. I left it on the table and regarded it for several silent moments. The candlelight created dancing shadows over the butterfly, giving the illusion that it was moving. I would never be able to give it to her, but there was no reason that I couldn't keep it on the desk in my office. Perhaps she would even notice it someday, and examine it, not realising the true meaning of it.

Heartbreak had always seemed like a foreign and quite impossible emotion to me. The fact that you would long for somebody else as pain stabbed your heart seemed silly and exxagerated to me before. But now I knew what that felt like. Besides the pain, there was also the knowledge that I had no hope, that what I had wanted most would never be mine. Ah, if Rand could see me now. He'd probably gloat.

I stumbled to my room, not bothering to change out of my clothes. As I drifted off to sleep among the cold blankets, I kept the image of her face in my mind. I dreamt of her the entire night.

* * *

Two days later...

When I dismissed Yelena, she ran off faster than usual. She had seemed happier this morning and I had just been about to ask why she was so cheerful when I remembered that her date with James was tonight. My mood soured, and combined with the pain being in love brought with it, I had had a thoroughly bad day. However, the fact that she agreed to become my second yesterday cheered my up fairly well.

Curious to see if she would dress up, I stood near the east gate of the castle wall, in the shadows. When she came into view, I gasped quietly. Her top clung to her like a second skin, and she was wearing one of her uniform skirts, instead of the pants she usually wore. Her hair was shining and falling down her back in chestnut waves. She was not wearing her boots, but a pair of shiny slippers that accentuated the small size of her feet. In short, she looked gorgeous. Too bad it wasn't for me.

I could tell that James appreciated how she looked by the way his eyes lit up and how he tried to lean against the wall casually. As I watched, he leaned onto a sharp end of a brick protruding from the wall and jerked up again, trying to cover it up by greeting her loudly. That made me feel better, but only a bit. James offered a cloak, and together, they walked towards Castletown. I made a split second decision. I would follow them there, just to make sure that Yelena would keep safe and not get lost. At least, that was what I told myself.

* * *

Yelena POV:

James was a gentleman in every way. As we walked towards Castletown, he kept the conversation topics light and pleasing, inserting funny comments here and there. I found myself actually having a good time. As soon as that thought occured to me though, I felt guilty for some reason. It felt as if I was betraying Valek in some way, but that was silly so I brushed that thought aside and forced myself to have a good time.

When we reached the Monkey's Fist Tavern, James got us a cosy table in the corner. He had one of the bar maids bring us drinks and ordered some food for the two of us.

"Have I told you how lovely you look tonight?" he asked, leaning across the table towards me.

I felt mildly uncomfortable. "Ah...yes."

He sensed my discomfort and turned the conversation to trivial, now tedious, topics again. Bored, I let my eyes wander around the room, taking in the group of gamblers in the corner, a bunch of farmers by the window...my eyes rested on a man on the opposite side of the room. What intrigued me about him was the fact that he was alone. Everyone in the tavern was sitting, talking and laughing with at least two other people, while he sat as far as he could from everyone else. His eyes locked onto mine.

I stifled a gasp. I would recognize those sapphire blue eyes anywhere. What was Valek doing, spying on me like this? I couldn't believe that he would tail me to my dinner with James.

"Yelena? Is something wrong?" James' concerned voice brought my attention back to him.

"Erm...everything's fine! I'm really enjoying myself, but would you mind excusing me for a few minutes?"

"Of course."

I gladly slipped out of my chair and wormed my way through the crowd towards Valek. I was going to confront him about why he was here. How dare he have the audacity to ...

Suddenly, a hand closed around my arm. I tried to break free but the hand had an iron grasp. Oh _no,_ this was the kidnapping attempt all over again. The iron grasp yanked through the crowd. Curses emitted as I was bumped into people, dragged behind my kidnapper. Finally when we reached outside, my kidnapper (I could discern that it was a man) pulled me into a narrow alley. In my peripheral vision, I could see James run out of the tavern and look around, searching for us. I opened my mouth to alert him of my location but a fist jammed hard into my mouth. I threw a punch and managed to hit his chin. Before I could try again, however, the other hand restrained me and held me still.

A sense of deja-vous lingered around in my mind. It couldn't be Valek this time, because he was already trusting me with his documents and I was going to become his second soon. Who else could it be? Valek warned me that people would want to gain access to the information I now knew, and would hurt me if they needed to in order to get it.

James had spotted us and he ran towards us, an expression of fury on his face. A black shape emerged from one of the alleys behind him and ran after him. I couldn't warn him due to the fist in my mouth and I watch in horror as the man leapt on James.

The man holding me cursed. "That distraction won't last long," he huffed to himself as he dragged me with him down the alley.

I tried once again to break free, with no success. I could see out of the corner of my eye that three more men and a woman had joined in to help their comrade. A few moments later, they blended into the shadows again with James lying still on the ground. Dread crept up on me at the possinility that he could be dead. But as I watched, he stirred slightly. Breathing an internal sigh of relief, I turned my attention to my kidnappers.

All I could see of the man was that he possessed a thick and dirty beard that reached his chest. He roughly dragged me into an inconspicuous looking building which was exactly the same as its neighbours. Without letting go of me, he and the woman that answered the door bound and gagged me, tying me tightly to a chair.

I stared at the woman. Maybe I would need to identify her later, so I would need a good look now. She had impossibly red locks with a large nose which seemed to dominate her face. She seemed to be perpetually sneering, although I thought that she would actually look quite pretty if she would just smile nicely for a moment.

"Let me introduce myself. I refer to myself as Captain Star. No, I am not part of Ambrose's military, I am the leader of one of my own. As the assassin's secretary, you possess a rather large amount of information that is hard to come by. Tell me the truth, keep your mouth shut, and you will be treated well. I will even pay you for your knowledge and silence. Do you understand?"

Deja-vous indeed. The woman definitely knew who I was, but how did she know that I would be in Castletown this evening? Somebody must have told her. But the only people that had known were James and I. Either James had fooled me completely, or somebody had spotted us as we left.

Star's thug ripped the gag painfully out of my mouth. The metallic, bitter taste of blood filled my mouth. "I understand,"I replied, in a flat voice.

Star smiled, a smile that involved only the upper corners of her lips. It reminded me of a cat that had caught its prey and was going to play with it. "Good. Begin by-"

She fell suddenly, slumping over a table. A dart protruded from her neck, nestled among her fiery locks of hair. The thug let go of me and ran for the door. _Wow_. No loyalty whatsoever. No criminal's honor either. But before he could even set a hand on the knob, he too fell onto the carpet with a muffled _thud_.

Panicked, I fought blindly against the bonds that secured me to the chair. Five men dressed all in black dropped down from the high ceiling, startling me. One of them removed his mask and turned to look at me with sapphire eyes. Valek!

"Take those two to the castle for investigation," he ordered, and the other four men lifted the unconscious bodies of Star and her goon, two to a body. Valek came towards me and without saying anything, began to untie me. After a few seconds, I was free. I stood up and rotated my wrists and kneaded my legs, trying to get my blood flowing again. Still silent, Valek gently pushed me towards the door.

Gesturing for me to follow him, he went through a maze of houses to emerge eventually on the road back to the castle. He then waited for me to catch up, then fell in step beside me. I could't help noticing that we were alone and that there were no other people on the road. It had become dark throughout the whole scuffle, and most of the windows in the houses were dark. The only illumination came from the sliver of the moon that was visible through the branches of the trees.

"Thank you," I told him, to break the awkward silence.

He nodded and still didn't say anything.

"Do you know why Star knew I was going to be in Castletown?"

"No. Likely you were spotted leaving the castle. James certainly did not tell her."

At the mention of James, I realised that he had been left unconscious in Castletown. "What about James? He was knocked out by Star's thugs!"

"Don't worry, my corps has already escorted him back to the castle."

I wasn't going to talk more if he wasn't, I thought peevishly. That would make me seem desperate, which of course I was not. Therefore, the rest of the trip back passed with nothing more interesting than the occasional rabbit that hopped across the path.

Strangely, I now felt comfortable in his prescence. My heart felt warm and happy. I was grateful to him for saving me, of course, but there was also something else there. Some feeling that I had no name for yet.

He followed me inside and escorted me to my room. Before I could go in, however, he spoke.

"As my second, you will be given a room in my suite. Tomorrow, I will send some men to bring your belongings there. Meet me at my office in the morning."

He left just as suddenly as he spoke. I was left frowning after him. Shaking my head in partial exasperation and anger, I went inside. I would face my problems tomorrow.

* * *

ooooo...she's going to move in with him :D


	10. Chapter 10

More confusion with feelings in this chapter! :D

* * *

Valek POV:

After I had escorted her to her room, I returned to my suite and laid down on the cold bed, staring at the ceiling for a long time. I couldn't sleep because every time I tried, I could picture her lying next to me. All I could think about was the fact that I had almost lost her to Star and her goons. I knew that she would not have told them anything, but my blood boiled when I thought about the fact that she could have been tortured for retaining information. And when I did save her, I had walked back to the castle with her. _Alone_. And down a moonlit path. At that time, I was almost happy about the fact that James had been overpowered by Star's goons.

I rolled over and picked up the butterfly statue I had carved from my bedside table. I had decided to keep it there so that I would have a little reminder of her every time I woke up and went to bed. I pondered about the fact that she would coming to live in my suite with me starting tomorrow. I should have probably given her a choice of whether or not she wanted to move, but I needed her to be with me. Besides, the Commander had told me to let her live with me, so nothing could harm his precious second. I felt a bit peevish. He never really showed that type of concern for his master assassin.

I'd probably ask Janco and Ari to help me take her things to my suite. Now I just had to decide which room to place her in. I sat up as an idea popped into my head. There was a room downstairs with minimal junk inside, so it would be easiest to clean out. Plus, I didn't want her to sleep upstairs where my room was. I didn't know what things I would do if there was that temptation...

I shook my head to clear it. _Think about other things, Valek_!, I thought fiercely to myself. Hmm...there was still the mystery of who had told Star Yelena would be in Castletown earlier this evening. I bet it was Rand, ...in fact, I was almost sure of it! I just needed to ask my informant in the kitchen if Rand had slipped away for a period of time, or if he had any unsual visitors, or if he had been seen writing and sending any mysterious messages. Would Yelena feel betrayed at the fact that Rand had brought harm onto her? I didn't know how good of a friend she considered him. Life was always like this for me. I laughed bitterly. Of course the woman I loved would be friends with the man I hated.

I squeezed my eyes shut and put down the butterfly. I was too tired right now. Yawning, I buried my face into the pillow. Oh no! I sat up again. What if I snored while I slept? Would she mind? Then I realised that she would be downstairs, so she wouldn't be able to hear me anyways. I sighed as I realised that it would be another long sleepless night for me.

* * *

_The next morning..._

I got to my office and she was there, waiting for me as usual. I've always wanted to be more punctual, but things always prevent me from getting where I want in the mornings, such as some of my corps asking me about what to do, my informants wanting to know what I need them to find out, etc.

Impatience glinted in her exquisite eyes. "If we're going to have to work together, maybe you could come earlier?" she suggested sarcastically.

I shrugged. "Since we'll be living in the same suite, you can just decide to leave when I do."

Her eyes widened with shock as if she forgot everything that I told her last night.

"My men will be moving your things today," I informed her. "You can choose to help them or if not, just stay out of their way."

She opened her mouth to argue, an enraged expression on her face.

I had to refrain from laughing. Why was she so stubborn? "The Commander has ordered that you will live in my suite," I explained. "Or else, I would have given you a choice." Would I though?

She sighed. "What are we going to be doing now that I'm your new second?"

"Well, you already know how to do the paperwork part of it, you will still be required to translate code and such things. I will also be training you in the arts of knives, poisons, espionage, evasion techniques, and everything that you will need in this job."

"So...I have to do paperwork _and_ train?"

I nodded. "We're not starting with paperwork today, though. We're going to training first."

Without seeing if she was going to follow me, I headed down the hall towards the yards.

* * *

Yelena POV:

I ran after him to keep up. At this time of the day, the soldiers were still running laps around the castle complex, so the yard was basically empty except for the occasional speedy soldier. He then stopped so suddenly in the middle of the yard that I almost bumped into him.

"First, I'll need to get a sense of what skills you already possess so that I can just build on those during our training sessions as well as teaching you what skills you lack. What weapons do you know how to fight with?

I pondered the question, tapping my cheek with a finger. Mirela had taught me about a wide array of weapons, so it would take me some time to remember them all. "Well...there's the bow, knives, light swords, daggers, darts...and a machete?"

He frowned. "A machete? That's a weapon used mostly in Sitia, since it can deliver a hard blow or clean cut to an opponent as well as for its weed whacking abilities. Why would this Mirela teach you this?"

I shrugged. Mirela had told me that I would need as much as training as I possibly could if I wanted to be able to survive in this world. I hadn't questioned that, knowing that that was true from my own experiences with Brazell.

He sighed. "Alright then. Since I have already seen your fighting style with a bow, how about facing me in a knife fight?" His eyes gleamed in anticipation, as if he was very sure of the fact that he would win.

"I don't have a knife."

He looked at me with an exasperated expression and went to the armory and came back with a knife for me.

"Aren't you going to need a knife too?"

"Don't worry, I already have one." He didn't have a knife on his belt, but as I watched, he reached into his sleeve and brought a knife back out in one smooth quick motion. Impressive. He motioned for me to attack.

I crouched into my ready position and stabbed the knife towards him. He was very fast, and apparently very skilled, as he caught my wrist and made me drop my knife before placing his blade against my neck. I was suddenly aware of the fact that he had his arms around me, even if one of his hands was holding a knife to my throat. For a second, I just wanted to wrap myself in his embrace and forget all my problems. I relaxed slightly and leaned against his body.

For just a moment, I felt almost as if his arms were tightening around me before he suddenly backed away. Luckily, I was not leaning a lot of my weight against him, so I didn't fall backwards like a fool. My cheeks burned with humiliation. Of course he wouldn't wrap me in his arms. What was I thinking? Our relationship was purely business. Absolutely no feelings were involved whatsoever. _None._

"I see that we'll have to work on knife practice," he remarked casually, as if he hadn't noticed anything abnormal.

Thankfully, the rest of the testing passed without any such incidents. I did better in swords, as it was a little similar to wielding a bow. My ability to throw darts equaled the average soldier's, he told me, but he wasn't able to rate my use of the machete, because Ixian soldiers rarely used it. He still beat me with an old one he found in the armory though. A lot of soldiers gathered around us to watch our matches, speaking to each other in low tones as they did. I didn't really take notice of anyone except Ari and Janco, who gave me thumbs up gestures and cheered. Oh yeah, Nix was also there, lurking in my peripheral vision. His glares nearly distracted me in most of the fights, but Valek forced me to concentrate like I never had before.

By the end, it was dusk, and many of the soldiers were leaving the yard. A chilly gust of wind blew into me, reminding me that the cold season was coming. Valek ended our session, sensing my discomfort and told me to go to bed, and to rest for tomorrow.

Nodding wearily, I trudged to my room, and opened the door, only to find it empty of all my things. I stared in confusion until I remebered that Valek had had his men move all my stuff to his suite. What was I supposed to do now? Go there and demand entrance? I knew that there were soldiers on guard all the time at the entrance of the hallway that contained the Commander's and Valek's suites. I didn't know if they would let me in. I just hope Valek told them that I would be moving in, because I was definitely not going to like waiting for him to get to his suite so I could get in too.

Like I expected, they didn't let me in. "Not unless you're with the Commander or Valek," the man on the right explained.

I sighed in frustration. My hands were itching to wrap themselves around Valek's neck. I pondered if I should do just that when I saw him.

Just then, he turned around the corner, strolling casually as if he hadn't a care in the world. I almost did it. Strangle him, that is. Luckily, I stopped myself in the nick of time.

"What are you doing, just standing around in the hallway?" he asked, looking bemused.

"Well, your two guards won't let me in!"

When Valek looked at them with that cold glare he possessed, they told him that they were not informed that I was to be permitted inside without any accompaniment.

"From on now, she is permitted to enter and exit this hallway and suite by herself if she wishes, whenever she wants. Everything that the Commander and I do here, she is also allowed to do, unless she breaks the law, or I say so."

They let us in, and I followed Valek to his suite door. When I looked back at the soldiers, I could have sworn that there was some sort of significant look that had passed between them. Shit, they probably thought that I was moving in with Valek because I was his...

Valek had also seen that look. "She's my second!" he called in a frustrated tone to them. They hung their heads and forced a humble expression on their faces until Valek turned to the lock on the door. They then exchanged a couple of winks and turned back to give me wide, suggestive grins. Could life get any worse for me?

Once we were inside the brightly lit room, I gawked at the mess, although I should really be used to it by now. After all, his office was also messy, though it wasn't this messy. At least it was brightly lit and a couch in the middle of the L-shaped living area was relatively free of books and statues or rocks.

Valek gestured to three doors on the left of the living room wall. "The one closest to the door is yours," he told me, before padding up the stairs. Cautiously, I opened the door, to find that the inside of the room was exactly the same as what it had been like in my old room. I guess his two men didn't have much imagination. Before I could fall onto the bed and start snoring, I heard a knock on my door.

I popped my head outside. Valek handed me a keychain with four keys on it.

"I forgot to give you these earlier. They're the keys to the suite."

"Thanks."

"I hope your room is to your liking?" He looked at me questioningly.

"Sure. It's exactly the way I left it." I gave him an experimental smile, but it felt fake.

I suddenly got that feeling again. It was the same feeling that I had felt when we were walking alone down the moonlit path towards the Castle after he had saved me. Warmth bloomed in my chest and it felt almost as if my heart was expanding. What was this? I had never felt like this before. Maybe there was a book on it in the library or something.

He seemed to feel awkward. I did too. "Well, we'll meet every morning at my office, and depending on whether the weather is nice, we'll either do some training or do office work. We'll also start your education on poisons soon too. The Commander doesn't have a mission for me yet, but once he does, you'll be coming with me to get some first hand experience."

I nodded and focused on a crack in the floor. He took the hint and left, going up the stairs again, this time going up the steps two at a time. I closed the door and leaned against it, taking in a deep breathe. Tomorrow, I thought, I would make sure to go to the library and see if there was a name for the feeling that I had felt. I considered asking Ari or Janco, then dismissed the idea. Ari was too obssessed with Dilana at the moment and Janco would just tease me.

Closing my eyes, my thoughts turned back to Valek. Sure, he was handsome, in a subtle way, but somehow way more attractive than Rand. I hadn't thought so when I had first arrived, but now...my perception was him was definitely different. My stomach distracted me by emitting a rumble. Dinnertime.

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Review review review! :D

-YelenaZ


	11. Chapter 11

Gwid: The idea with Rand is interesting, but I really have no idea how I would write that...

youknowwho: I also want to be able to work that in somehow, but I don't see any oppurtunity in the coming chapters. Maybe in the future :)

* * *

ValekPOV:

"I have a mission for you." The Commander leaned back in his high backed chair and regarded Yelena and I with his eyebrows raised.

"What is it?" Even I could hear the impatience in my voice.

"I need you to go to MD-5. No doubt you already know, Valek, but General Brazell has been up to some kind of mischief and I want you and Yelena to get to the bottom of it. Speaking of him, he also sent me this yesterday."

The Commander hauled out a lavishly decorated box from underneath his desk. I looked at it distrustfully. I had learned the hard way that the worst kind of packages often came in the most beautiful wrapping. Beside me, Yelena leaned forward to take a better look at the box, making a small sound of appreciation.

"What's inside?" she asked.

With a dramatic gesture, the Commander slowly opened the lid to reveal rows and rows of small brown cubes made of a substance that resemabled wax.

"This, according to the note that Brazell sent me with this, is Criollo. Apparently, it's a new recipe that his cook, Ving, created and Brazell wanted me to have a taste,"the Commander explained.

"Where's Oscove? He should taste it first." A sudden thought occured to me. "You haven't already eaten some, have you?"

"No," he assured me, sending Yelena to fetch Oscove.

Oscove came and left, reporting that there was nothing exceptional about the cubes. Nothing exceptional as in poisonous, that is. When he had put one after another in his mouth, his eyes nearly popped out of his head and when he had finished his four cubes, he even licked his fingers to save any residue. This was very strange.

Before the Commander could take one, I took the box out of his surprised hands and popped one in my mouth. After a minute of careful tasting, I could not see what the fuss was about. Yelena leaned over my shoulder to grab one, her hand brushing slightly against my cheek as she did so. Intense heat suddenly flooded me, and she blushed. Why was she blushing? Was it because...but no, she had turned away and I couldn't scrutinise her face and tried to hide her embarassment by tasting her cube.

Meanwhile, the Commander's sharp eyes missed nothing. I groaned internally. I really did not want to be kept back _again _to talk about what he liked to call "interesting developments".

Yelena gasped with surprise, bringing my thoughts back to her. Her eyes were closed and her face held an expression of utmost happiness. Ambrose shook his head in confusion and grabbed one, and within moments, his face matched Yelena's in expression.

"Valek, don't you feel that this dessert is..." the Commander broke off as he popped another morsel in his mouth. I had never seen him savour a piece of food like this in years.

"Unexceptional at best." I could not believe this.

Yelena and the Commander both looked at me like I was crazy. Great.

"Enough about this...dessert. Just tell us about the mission." I crossed my arms over my chest.

The Commander looked mournfully at the box of cubes and reluctantly closed it. "Well, I will need you and Yelena to go to MD-5 and do some reconnaissance there. Don any disguises and make up any cover stories that you deem necessary. You're dismissed."

As Yelena and I walked back to the training ground, I thought up potential disguises for both of us. As we faced off in numerous matches, I revised and rethought dozens of suitable disguises. In the end, I decided that we would travel there as a man and wife. We would need a fake marriage certificate, as well as the papers needed for travelling to another military district. We would need supplies for travelling there, obviously, and some money for shelter at night or during bad weather. Plus, I would need all my little knick knacks and surprises. I would need to get some for Yelena as well.

That would involve a visit to the Commander's special blacksmiths. I suppressed a smile as I remember how frightened they had been when I expressed my displeasure at receiving my weapons late. They would never make that mistake again, I made sure of that the last time.

I hadn't realised that I was just standing outisde my office like an idiot while Yelena waited for me to open the door with the key that I was holding out towards the lock.

"What are you doing?" she asked, frowning at me.

"I have a plan."

* * *

Yelena POV:

"Plan? What plan? For what?" Confusion swirled around in my mind.

"For our mission." He finally stepped inside and held the door open for me. I crossed the room and plopped down lazily on the two-person on the far side of the room. He had had it brought into his office about a week after my arrival. I stretched out so that there was very little space left. He sat down anyways, sitting down _very_ close to me. There was that feeling again. One of these days, maybe after the mission, I would definitely have to go to the library to see what it meant.

"I'm waiting," I hinted impatiently, tapping my boot on the floor.

"Our disguise...we are going to travel as a husband and wife visiting a cousin in MD-5. It's perfect!"

"HUSBAND AND WIFE?" I choked and stared at him. _Was he joking_? But no, would an assassin joke?

"What? What's wrong with that?"

I squirmed uncomfortably. "Well, you know, we're obviously _not _married and well...we haven't even known each other for a long time."

He grinned at me. "Then wouldn't this be a good time for us to get to know about each other?"

I looked at me, shocked. No sound made it past my lips except for a small squeak. _Really_? Could it be possible that...

His face then turned cold, hard. He went to sit at his desk, picked up a book and began to read, totally ignoring me. I couldn't let it end this way. For some reason, I just had to fix this situation.

"You're right! After all, I'm your second now, aren't I?" I winced. My voice had been too chipper, bright, and obviously forced.

He only glanced at me and nodded, but I could feel some of the ice wall melt away. My heart warmed with that darn feeling again. What the hell was it? I shifted uneasily in my chair. He hadn't told me to do anything so I was just sitting there. I might as well go to the library now.

"Ah...could I go to the library if you don't mind? I want to do some...research."

He looked up, curiosity etched in his face. "What kind of research?"

"Um...just ...female stuff..." There. That ought to scare him off.

"Ask me. Maybe I can help." He gave me his whole attention, putting down the book and leaning towards me. His hand brushed against a statue on his desk that I hadn't seen before. A beautifully graceful butterfly, poised as if to take flight. I looked at it for a moment, wondering why he had chosen to display that particular statue and trying to think of what it could mean to him. A gift from someone special perhaps? Or, maybe he bought it or something to remind him of someone he loved. Who would he love though?

He shifted in his seat and I realised that I hadn't responded to him yet.

"That's alright, I'll just go..." Without waiting for a response, I slipped out the door hurriedly. Good thing I didn't give him a chance to say anything, or I would have probably poured everything out to him, and I was obviously reluctant for that to happen.

Just outside the door, I was surprised the encounter a very happy Ari. "Ari?"

He turned around and laughed in a carefree way, picking me up and twirling me around. Something was definitely wrong. Ari was usually more serious, more reserved than Janco, and now he was acting more like Janco than Janco, if that made sense.

"Dilana...Dilana!"

"Dilana decided to be with you?"

He grinned and put me down, then walking with me. "I was just going back the the barracks so I can tell Janco. Apparently Rand was involved with a leader of a criminal orgainisation. I think her name was Star. Anyways, he was helping her with some illicit deeds and they got caught. Both are locked away in the Commander's dungeons now, awaiting questioning."

Rand? Star? So Rand was the one who probably sold me out to Star? I didn't know how to feel about that. We hadn't been really friends, maybe aquaintances at most. I didn't feel really betrayed at what he did but I was definitely very angry. He had caused the dinner with James to go wrong and had caused me to attain a lot of painful bruises. If Valek was the one that questioned them, well...they were in for a rough time. I smiled in fierce delight.

Ari then said goodbye and ran back to the barracks to break his good news to Janco. I couldn't blame him. After all, he had found a happy ending to his love story.

After taking a few wrong turns, I ended up the in the vast, luxuriously decorated library. Basically everything was dusty with misuse, including the furniture. Except, I noticed, one chair towards the back. It was so obviously devoid of dust that somebody or more than one person must have used it recently. I crossed over and sat in it, resting my arms on the chair.

A warm, musky smell covered me as I leaned back. Mmmm...the chair smelled kind of like Valek did when he had his arms around me. Could this be his chair?

I got up and went through the maze of shelves, trying to find what I was looking for. Which was pretty hard because I didn't exactly _know_ what I was looking for. I had just expected to find a shelf on the topic of feelings. All I could find on feelings after I searched the shelves several times was a section on love. Love stories written by the Queen when she was alive, to be precise. Sighing, I picked out a book at random and brought it back to Valek's chair. Even though it wasn't exactly what I had been looking for, it still had to do with feelings and I couldn't afford to be picky now.

I read for a what seemed to be a very long time. Perhaps hours, perhaps only for a few minutes, but all that I was aware of as I read, was that I was in love. Truly in love with Valek. And yet, like the heroine in the book, he didn't love me back. Life was full of painful cliches, I was very convinced of that fact. When I was done, I put the book onto the table beside my chair and slipped down to sit on the cold marble floor, wrapping my arms about my legs and leaning my head down on my knees. What was I going to do?

Before I could think about that, I heard the library's door slowly creak open. A streak of light from outside streamed across the floor of the dark, silent library. Quickly, I ran as quietly as I could into the maze of shelves. I didn't know why, but it felt somewhat forbidden to come into this old library and I didn't want to be caught, especially near Valek's chair.

Peeping around a corner of the shelf containing books on gems, I confirmed my suspicions. It was indeed Valek. He walked to stand in front of the chair and just looked at it, as if he suspected I had been there. Being who he was, he probably already knew. Then, he turned around and scanned the shelves, as if he already knew where I was. Which, he probably did. With a sigh, he sank into the chair and reached for the book that I had left on the table.

He frowned at it for a few moments, as if he was confused by the topic. Then to my surprise, he opened the book and began to skim through it! I groaned in frustration. How and when was I ever going to get out of here?

Apparently he had heard me, even though I had tried to be silent, and started walking towards me.

"Why are you hiding from me?" he asked with an amused expression on his face.

Uh oh. "Ah...I'm...um, not," I said lamely, fidgeting. I let my gaze wander to the door to hint that I wanted to get going.

He smiled."You're not getting away that easily. I just wanted to tell you that tomorrow, we will be leaving for MD-5, so tonight, it would be best if you packed _just_ the bare necessities. Meet me at the castle entrance an hour after midnight."

"Why so early...or late?"

"Because this is a reconnaissance mission. We don't want any snoops like Rand to find out where we went. Also, because you're going to act as my wife, we'll need to able to pass a married couple when we go to inns or any public areas. Which means we're going to have to practise our husband and wife act."

I snorted. "What do I have to do? Be obedient and docile, while fawning sickeningly over you?" I spoke sarcastically but he responded with enthusiasm.

"Exactly. Most of the farmers in MD-5 are quite...stern on their opinions on what women should and shouldn't do, even though the Commander has been trying for the last 15 years to correct this. If circumstances call for it, you will even have to ki-" He broke off, and stared away.

"Kiss you?" Not that I found him repulsive, quite the opposite, in fact, but for some reason, I had a sinking feeling about this. How would I be able to kiss him if he didn't love me at all? If he was totally oblivious to my presence? But recently, he had been acting more and more...I didn't know. Sensing danger, I immediately snuffed the hope that had bloomed in my heart. Face the facts, Yelena! The man doesn't love you and never will. He's an assassin!

He nodded slowly, his face expressionless. "As well as other...ways of showing affection."

I gaped, my heart stopping. He couldn't have meant...

"No, not that," he said hastily, realising his mistake. "I just meant things like...er...intimate embraces and faked private conversations."

"Oh." For some reason, I felt slightly dissapointed. I inched towards the door. "I'll meet you an hour after midnight then! Better get some sleep now!"

He caught my arm before I could dash away and escape. I froze instinctively and stopped breathing. I turned back partially to look at him. Half of his face was shadowed by the bookshelves and his sapphire eyes gleamed in the darkness.

"Not yet, Yelena. We still have to practise this to make sure that when the time comes, our disguises will not be endangered."

I could feel, rather than hear, my breathing become more quick, shallow, and rapid. "W..what should we practise?"

He leaned in, and I saw an expression in his eyes that I had never seen before. Whatever it was, it warmed my body and I relaxed slowly. I was suddenly aware that he had his arms around me, holding me close. I looked up again, and he leaned in to kiss me. I closed my eyes and felt contentment seep through me. In a small corner of my mind, I knew that this was all a ruse, that this was just practise to avoid endangering the mission, not a true kiss.

As his lips almost brushed mine, that part of my mind took control. I stiffened and wriggled out of his embrace. Without looking back, I ran through the library door and towards my room.

As I left, I could feel his forceful gaze following me.

* * *

To make things more clear, yes, Reyad is still alive. And yes, the orphanage exists.

Nice ideas guys! They definitely gave me something to think about...


	12. Chapter 12

Thank you for the reviews! Especially Beautifully Tragic Girl, who has reviewed every chapter thus far!:)

slsilver: No, Reyad has done nothing to Yelena yet.

angel368: I will keep that in mind! :)

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Valek POV:

As agreed, she met me at the castle entrance an hour after midnight. Dark smudges were quite visible under her extraordinary eyes. I guess she hadn't used the few hours she had for sleep. As I approached her, a pang of pain struck my heart. At least before this, I had just assumed that she had no feelings for me, but now I had absolute proof. I couldn't even hope, after she turned away from my kiss as if she found it repulsive. I would never force her to do anything she didn't want to, and I definitely don't want her to feel as if she had to kiss me because she was afraid of me.

I almost laughed at the irony. Even though I was actually less cruel than a lot of people, most shied away from me because of my terrifying reputation. For example, did she find James repulsive? No, she had even agreed to go on a date with the man! And yet, James was the one that allowed her to be caught by Star.

She was carrying a small backpack with ease. At least she wasn't like most soldiers I knew. They would basically stuff all their worldly belongings in one bag and then start whining annoyingly after one day of hard travel due to the heaviness and their aching muscles. I didn't say anything to her; I just started walking into the dark forest that separated the castle from MD-5. I longed for horses, but they were reserved for high ranking officials and and anyways it would also make us as travellers very conspicuous. I had considered putting on makeup that would change my features, but then I had realised that most people in Ixia knew of my reputation but not my actual facial features.

"We're walking?" she asked, shrugging on her backpack as we walked. At least she was still talking to me.

"No, we're running," I said grimly and upped the pace to a light jog. She tried to match my pace, but I sped up when she did that so I was always a few metres ahead of her. I was still angry as well as hurt at what had happened, and normally not much made me feel like this. It was also quite humiliating to be rejected so I didn't want to talk to her unless it was absolutely necessary.

She took the hint after a few attempts and stayed behind me, matching my pace. We travelled single file like this until it was quite dark again. Since we were travelling on foot, we only reached Lake Keyra of MD-5 when dusk emerged. The lake reflected the rapidly setting sun, causing us to squint in the harsh glare of light. Beside the lake was a rather low concentration of buildings compared to Castletown, so we had to ask the local citizens to direct us to the law enforcement officers' building. I showed them our papers and told them that we were a couple travelling to General Brazell's manor to visit a friend that worked there.

"Husband and wife, eh?" The captain looked us over.

"Yes, sir," Yelena told him, hooking an arm with mine. She gazed up at me adoringly, batting her eyelashes. At first, I was shocked, but then recalled that this was just a ruse to have the captain believe our story. Maybe she was overdoing it just a little.

I an arm around Yelena's shoulders and pulled her tightly against me, the image of marital contentment. The captain observed us for a long moment, then sighed wearily and told us the directions to the town's inn, which was named ironically, The Happy Couple.

The captain chuckled as he told us the name. "The owner and his wife are very close, as you can tell. They don't charge much for good service so you two'll be treated well there. Since you two are also a couple, they'll probably give you a discount." He winked and sent us on our way.

Yelena's face was red, but I couldn't tell if it was from embarassment or anger for having been taken for my wife even though it was an entirely business-like relationship. Probably the latter, I concluded, as we reached the inn.

Upon first sight, the owner, Jarro, and his wife, Perdita, were indeed very much in love. They welcomed us warmly, but immediately followed it up with some bad news. Apparently a large group of fire dancers had been travelling to the General's house also to perform for the General's son, Reyad's, birthday celebration. Most of the rooms in the inn were taken, all except for one small room. I considered setting up a tent outside near the lake perhaps, but it was now raining hard and I could see that Yelena was trembling with fatigue from jogging all day.

"You're married, right? So it wouldn't be a problem if we placed you both in that room?" Jarro asked, his eyes twinkling with mischief, his voice challenging us.

A room. Alone. With Yelena. For a whole night. This was going to be _very_ difficult.

"Does the room have two beds?" Yelena inquired. I bet even Jarro and Perdita could hear the desperation in her voice. I gritted my teeth in frustration.

"One bed that takes up the whole room, that's how small the room is," Perdita said.

I sighed. I guess I would let Yelena take the bed and I would sleep on the floor. "We'll take it."

Yelena turned to gape at me as I handed over the money for the room.

As soon as the owner and his wife disappeared, she let out an enraged whisper. "What were you _thinking_? We can't-"

"**Relax**. You can take the bed, I'll sleep on the floor." I said curtly before turning and heading to the room.

When I opened the door, it wouldn't open fully, being blocked by the bedframe. Damn. Perdita hadn't been joking when she had said that the bed took up the whole room. Literally, the bed stretched from wall to wall. It wasn't even a particularly large bed either, just big enough for two people to fit very snugly on it. This room really was no more than a closet with a bedframe and matress.

Yelena had arrived behind me and as she surveyed the room, I thought I saw her face pale drastically. Or was it just the lighting? She didn't say anything, probably too revulsed by the idea of sleeping in the same bed as me. A sliver of pain cut through my stupid heart again.

As I watched though, she straightened her back and her face took on a determined expression. "I'll take the right side, you take the left."

Had she just agreed to this? I had been seriously contemplating sleeping on the common room's couch but this would be a much more comfortable alternative. I considered declining and being a gentleman, but I was just too tired right now. "Deal."

She then promptly dropped her things onto the bed and went to take a bath. I sat down on my side of the bed and sighed. I hadn't expected her to agree but now that she did...I couldn't say I was sorry for it.

* * *

Yelena POV:

Leaning back in the iron tub, I slowly poured the bucket of hot water over my head, rinsing out the suds. Afterwards, I just sat with my arms around my legs in the cooling water, not wanting to get back to Valek yet. I still could not believe what I had done. I knew Valek was a professional and he would not do anything to me, but I would probably feel compelled to do...things while I was in such close proximity to him.

I was also nervous about the mission. The fact that I was going back to Brazell's manor worried and scared me. The past haunted me ever since we had set out on this mission and it wouldn't stop until I fixed everything that was wrong. In fact, while Valek was going to do his snooping around, I would sneak off on my own and try to get in touch with some of the orphans.

The innkeeper's daughter, Viviana, came back with a towel and I was forced to get out, disturbing my train of thought. Clutching the towel around me, I realised that I had left my change of clothes in my bag in the room. I asked Viviana for the clothes that I had discarded but she told me that they were already being washed by her older sister, and probably wouldn't dry for a few hours at least, as there was obviously no sun at night.

Shit. Groaning silently, I asked if I could borrow any clothes. She told me that her mother had forbidden her to lend clothes to any strangers because of a certain past incident involving fleas. Then I asked her if she would go back to my room and get my change of clothes for me.

"Why? Aren't the two of you married?" she asked, her eyes wide and innocent.

"Um...well...I'm not on good terms with my husband right now."

"I understand," Viviana told me, her blue eyes sparking with hidden laughter.

_What does she mean by that_? "Thanks."

She shook her head, her brown braids swinging. "If you excuse me for speaking bluntly, me going to collect your clothes for you just might make the situation with you and your husband worse, wouldn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if you don't mind, won't he take it personally? All the men I've known have exceedingly large egos to match their stomachs." She clapped her hands over her mouth hurriedly. "Not that I'm saying your husband is like that..."

"So you won't do it?"

She shifted uncomfortably. "Mother and Father always told us not to meddle with others' love lives. Others needed to work it out themselves in order to be happy, they said."

"What if there are people in the hallway while I'm going to my room?"

"Is that an excuse?" She gave me a oh-no-you-don't look, placing her hands on her hips.

Dread settled inside me. Taking a deep breath, I marched out the door to the room I was to share with Valek, pulling my towel tighter as I did so. As I passed Viviana, she patted my arm in encouragement. With each step, I felt more and more like fleeing in the opposite direction. Although Mirela had always told me to face my fears, I was sure that she never meant _this_.

I slid the door open, hoping that for some reason, Valek would be asleep or in the common room. Unfortunately, he wasn't.

His eyes immediately looked away as soon as he saw me. I swore that I could see his cheeks darken slightly, professionalism or not. Gritting my teeth, I clawed through my belongings and fished out the clothes with a hand while the other held up my towel. Then, I darted out the room again to change in the bathing room.

I wasn't looking where I was going, so I accidentally bumped into someone. A very large someone.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? A young miss just waiting to run into a man," the potbellied man drawled in a sneering voice. He wore the uniform of a blacksmith, and his upper body matched Ari's in size and strength.

"Excuse me," I said hurriedly, my danger sense flaring. I tried to back away, but one of his heavy arms clamped me to him, preventing me.

"Let me go!" I squirmed and kicked. Why did people like restraining me against my will so much? He smelled like rotten eggs and beer, which, now I knew, was a very bad combination. I grew even more panicked when he hooked a finger under my towel, dragging it down a bit.

"Let her go." The voice was cold, lethal and sharp as a dagger. Turning my head as far as I could, I could see Valek. Relief swept through me and a sense of safety slowly crept back.

"Or what?" The man displayed his rotting teeth. I choked on the stench of his bad breath.

Valek didn't say anything, but I could hear a knife being drawn out. The man let go of me and pushed me roughly behind him, unsheathing his own blade. Whatever I did, I definitelywasn't going to stand around like some dumb damsel in distress. As the man and Valek circled around, I picked up a pair of fireplace tongs and gripped them firmly in my free hand. I watched them until I found the perfect oppurtunity.

Taking a deep breath, I darted forward and swung the tongs as hard as I could, aiming for the man's ribs. With an _oomph_, the man collapsed on the floor, gasping for air.

"Good work." Valek grinned at me, and handed me back the clothes that I had dropped sometime during the scuffle.

Shooting him a returning, tentative grin, I reached the bathing room with no other mishaps and changed.

Viviana was still there, pouring in fresh water for the next bather. She grinned up at me with a sweet smile. "Wasn't so bad, was it?"

Very wisely, I kept my mouth shut. _No, Viviana, that had gone as bad as it could get._

On my way back, I saw that the man was gone and everything was the same as it had been before, as if nothing had happened. The tongs were returned to the fireplace and the chairs wer straightened out. I just hoped it was Valek that cleared away the man because I didn't want anymore unwelcome attention.

Opening the door to the room, I saw that Valek was lounging on the bed, polishing his knives.

"Aren't you going to bathe?" I asked.

He spared me a quick glance. "I already did."

"Oh." I climbed onto my side of the bed and shot a sideways glance at him. He looked up and held my gaze for a long moment.

"I hope I'm not keeping you from your sleep." He indicated his knives.

I was a little late in answering. "Not at all."

I lay down and drew the covers over my head, shivering. It was almost the cold season, and the nights were getting more and more colder and longer. There was no fireplace in our room, which made the room feel even more freezing. At least the room didn't have a window, so no more coldness would leak in.

Valek blew out the only candle and we were then plunged into darkness. For a while, I could hear him sharpening his knives with force. I couldn't sleep, because my senses were wired just by being in the same crowded space as him. Finally, he put away his knives, also laying down and I could feel the bed shift under his weight.

His hand brushed against my hand and stayed there. His hand was warm and reassuring, like a beloved stuffed bear a child might carry around. For some reason, I felt that for the first time in my life, I belonged somewhere. Even when I had left the orphanage and Mirela had taken me in, I still felt as if a part of me was missing, and without that vital part, I would never become whole. I still had no memories of my life before the orphanage, but even so, I still felt as if I had finally come home, to the place I was meant to be. I smiled into the darkness and closed my eyes peacefully, my day of exhausting travel catching up to me.

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Don't worry, more to come. This scene is not over yet!:)


	13. Chapter 13

Scene continued from chapter 12...

This time, I decided to make Valek's POV a tad longer for obvious reasons. Enjoy!:)

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Valek POV:

I looked down onto her sleeping, peaceful expression. I was powerfully reminded of the night that I had snuck into her room to get a sneak peek at her. Only, this time she was aware from the beginning that I was here. If only I had known back then that I would fall in love with this woman. Would I still have let her stay? Something to think about while travelling tomorrow. She turned over slightly in her sleep, burrowing into my side. Smiling wistfully, I gently tucked a lock of hair that had fallen in front of her face behind her ear.

She murmured something in her sleep. I stilled and tried to make my breathing more quiet so I could hear her better.

"Mmmm...Valek...I..." She buried her face my chest and sighed, seeming happy.

I felt happy too. In fact, I felt ecstatic because she had said my name in her sleep. Was she dreaming of me? I wanted to hear more.

"What about me?" I whispered to her, brushing her cheek gently with the tips of my fingers, feeling at peace.

She frowned in her sleep, a small wrinkle forming between her eyebrows. I smoothed it with my thumb. "Mmm...Valek...book in library..."

Book in library? Maybe I was mistaken and she wasn't dreaming about me after all. After all, what could she mean by 'book in library'?

Then, it hit me. The day I had caught her in the library and tried to kiss her, I had found a book on the table by my chair. Judging by the scent of sweet lavendar that had lingered on the chair, I had guessed that Yelena had sat in it. When I had flipped through it, I found that it was one of those cheesy romances that the King loved to read so much. I desperately wished I could make the connection between my name and the topic of the book but I didn't have any concrete evidence at all. Just the woman I loved muttering in her sleep.

I listened intently some more, but she didn't say anything else, just snuggling closer and sighing. I looked down at her for a long time. I knew from years of experience that I should probably get all the rest I can so that we could travel faster tomorrow. But before I settled down to sleep, I wanted to do something that I had wanted to do for a long time. Yes, in fact I _was_ going to do it. The fact that Yelena was asleep at the moment provided ideal conditions.

Pushing away all rational thoughts, I leaned down slowly to touch my lips to hers. Just before I kissed her though, I hesitated. What if she woke up and pushed me away again? I shook my head. It didn't matter anymore. I didn't care if she rejected me again. All that mattered right now was that I was here, and she was here. And I was going to kiss her.

But at that moment (and it just _had_ to be that moment), her eyes flew open and she screamed. Very loudly. Actually, more of a sort of battle-cry than a scream. A fist headed rapidly in the direction of my face.

I cursed and jerked back from her, blocking her blow instinctively. She stared up at me, panting , and I could almost see her anger level rise and peak.

"What were you thinking?" she yelled. "Is this some deranged plot to -". She broke off, her face turning a deep red, whether from anger or embarassment I could not tell.

Meanwhile, I was in a panic for the first time in my life as an assassin. It was not a good novel experience. I could hardly admit to wanting to kiss her, could I? I had my reputation and dignity to think about, not to mention the current fragile state of my heart. Luckily, I was saved by the bell, or rather, the door to our room slamming open loudly.

"What is it? Is anyone hurt?" Jarro held up an old lantern and scanned the room quickly. So did the large horde of people behind him. The fire danceers were wielding their great fire staffs, though unlit of course. One of the innkeeper's daughters, the one with the brown braids...Viviana, was that her name? She was giggling and throwing significant looks at Yelena while sneaking little glances at me. What had Yelena told her? Jarro cleared his throat and brought my attention back to him."I heard screaming."

Thinking quickly, I risked it and slipped an arm around Yelena. "No sir, it's just that my wife had a nightmare. You know women and their whimsical dreams."

Wrong thing to say. Now Yelena looked ready to bite my arm off. So did Perdita, who was peeking over Jarro's shoulder. Plus, all the women in the big crowd behind Jarro and Perdita looked ready to ambush me as soon as I was alone. Great, as if I didn't have enough to take care of.

Jarro broke the dangerous moment by chuckling nervously. He couldn't agree with me, or he would most likely have his first argument with his wife. On the other hand, if he _didn't_ agree with me, the situation would only go worse from there.

After a long pause, he thought up a diplomatic solution and ushered everyone out of our room, saying that "the young woman needs her sleep and privacy". I certainly agreed with the privacy part of that sentence. The men in the crowd didn't seem as if they even noticed what was going on, they were too busy ogling Yelena.

Once we were alone, Yelena roughly pushed my arm away from her and silently began gathering her things. I could feel then tension in the air and I knew that she was going to snap at any second. Still, I risked it.

"I wasn't about to rape you or do anything to you of that nature,"I said quietly. I silently berated myself for being such a coward, not even daring to kiss her when she was awake.

She glared at me, and the only thing that I could feel was love. "Oh really? Then _what_ exactly were you going to do? Kiss me?"

I almost laughed at her accurate perception of life, struggling to keep my voice grave. "What would you do if the answer to that question was yes?"

She gritted her teeth and finished gathering her things. She slid off the bed and reached for the doorknob.

"Where do you think you're going?" I asked. I had a bad feeling about this.

"I think that I'm going to go sleep on the common room's couch, since a certain _someone_ can't be trusted!"

Just as she was stepping out, I spoke. "I was telling the truth, Yelena. Do I look like a man that forces women? I don't think even my reputation includes that."

I could see by the set of her shoulders that she was actually listening and considering what I had said. _For once._

"Well, if your goal _was_ to kiss me, and I'm not entirely convinced it was, then why were you going to do it? There was no need to pretend when we were alone." She looked at me with a challenging glint in her eyes.

"I was...curious." Had I just said that? Why? It made me sound like some young schoolboy with no experience in life. I berated myself. This was the golden oppurtunity to tell her how I felt, but my inexperience with panic always got the best of me. The only thing left to do was to just go along with it and wait to see how it played out, like I did with many criminals. Not Yelena was one.

As angry as she was, she couldn't stop a short bark of laughter from escaping her lips. "You seriously want me to believe that?"

I looked at her gravely and willed her to believe me. "Yes. What else can I say?"

She bit her lip and looked down. But I already knew that she did believe me. I could tell she was thinking by the little frown on her face and the far-off expression in her eyes. Finally, she looked up gravely and put her things down on the bed again, slowly approaching me. Before I could make any sense of what was going on, she leaned in and gave me a quick chaste kiss on the cheek.

"That's all the kisses you're getting from me," she told me disapprovingly as she drew back, a little catch in her voice. Her eyes held an expression of slight anger and mischievousness. Something else too, that I could not read.

My cheek felt warm where she had kissed me. I felt slightly disappointed it hadn't been a proper kiss. She fell back down on the bed and drew the covers over her head. Good, because I was looking down at her and probably had a disappointed expression on my face. That would not do at all.

Laying down as well, I turned so I faced her back. I could see that her breathing was deep and steady; I was almost certain she was asleep. I smiled widely. I had made up my mind to tell her I loved her by the end of this mission, whether I wanted to or not.

* * *

_The next morning_

We were entirely professional on the rest of our way to the General's house. I would have liked to think that that kiss meant something though. Neither of us said anything about it, since we had had some sort of unspoken truce to do just that.

It was midday now, and in about another hour or so of travelling, we would arrive at Brazell's manor. Yelena chose to sit under a Sitka spruce to eat her lunch of beef jerky and I followed suit. We shared a water canteen, her's having run out about an hour ago. I couldn't help noticing that when she drank, her lips touched the exact same place mine had. Would that be the equivalent of a kiss? Was she doing it on purpose? There so many questions that I wanted to ask her but I had a feeling that if I did, she would become cold and distant again.

After she finished eating, instead of putting on her backpack again, she scrambled up the spruce like those energetic valmurs that I kept encountering in the Illais Jungle whenever I went.

"What are you doing?" I called up to her, squinting against the sunlight as I looked up at her.

"Climbing. Are you going to come up too?" She moved onto a higher branch and waved down at me through the leaves.

Cursing silently, I climbed up the tree. I wanted to get going, but I also didn't want her to get hurt. At least if I followed, there was a chance that I could catch her, or break her fall. She moved higher and higher and I actually found myself panting as I tried to catch up to her. That woman could really climb.

I found her on a sturdy branch around fifty feet above the ground. She was sitting and swinging her legs in a carefree way, observing me. I sat down beside her, moving with care. A fall from a branch like this could break bones, or kill somebody, even with all those other branches and leaves that could break your fall.

"Where did you learn to climb?" I asked, looking over at her curiously.

She opened her mouth to respond but I held up a hand. "Let me guess, Mirela."

She nodded. A thought crossed my mind and I silently cursed at not having thought of it before.

"You said that Mirela took you in when you were around 6 years old. Where were you before that?"

She looked at me, and I could almost see her trying to decide whether or not to trust me.

"I was...at an orphanage." She fiddled with a leaf that she had plucked off one of the smaller branches.

"Orphanage?" To my belief, there were no orphanages in Ixia. Instead, we put parentless children in foster homes with a couple that wanted another child. In fact, the only thing that popped into my mind when she said the word "orphanage" was General Brazell. _Why?_

Racking my brain, I finally realised that around over a decade ago, General Brazell had announced that he would be taking in orphans that needed food and shelter. Nobody thought much of it, thinking that he was another harmless old man that wanted to do some good in the world. Even the Commander wasn't that suspicious. Only I was.

"Would this be General Brazell's orphanage we're talking about?" I asked.

"Yes." She spoke sharply, as if she associated the orphanage with some bad memories. Well, of course she would, Valek! I mentally chatised myself for being so slow today. _That's why she left, genius!_

"You ran away, didn't you?" She didn't reply so I took that as a yes. "Why would you do that?"

She set her mouth stubbornly. I gently tipped her chin up so I could look at her. To my relief, she didn't flinch. She scanned my face with cautious eyes, then sighed in defeat.

"I remember stumbling into a room where General Brazell was talking to his son, Reyad." She shuddered. "He told his son that the first of the 'children' that they had gathered was a success and that he was hoping to achieve the same results with some of the others. He mentioned things...some sort of torture, experiments and strenuous excersises that were supposed to bring out a child's 'potential'. I had no idea what that meant, but I had a feeling that I would definitely not want that to happen to me. So I left."

"Just like that? They couldn't catch you?" As I thought about it, though, I wasn't really that surprised. After all, she showed surprising skill in many areas other soldiers faltered at. Surely even when she was still a child, she possessed some of the same abilities.

"No." She ducked her head. "I hid in one of the trees in a nearby forest. I was very lucky that the dogs didn't pick up on my scent."

We sat there in silence for a moment or two before I suggested continuing on our journey. Still not saying anything, we came down and resumed jogging on the path, side by side. I couldn't help but noticed the grace with which she climbed down, almost as if she was born to do so. It was as if she was born in the Illias Jungle in Sitia.

As we jogged, I sneaked a sideways peek at her. After my brothers died, I had convinced myself that I would never let myself care about anyone that strongly ever again. When you lost someone you loved, the pain was worse than any physical pain. It was as if a piece of your heart had died with them. I made a resolution to keep Yelena in my sights all the time while we were at the manor. I would never risk losing her, ever, because I had a feeling that I might not be able to bear it if I did.

* * *

Yelena POV:

As we jogged out way to the manor, I found myself biting my lip in anxiety. Would Brazell still recognise me, after all these years? Would he be suspicious? How would I be able to save the rest of the children? So many questions with no easy answers.

As for the last question, I resolved to leave that to the end, when Valek and I had finished what we came here for. I would ask him to help me free the children. I now knew that he was not a cruel and viscious man as the rumours made him out to be, so there was an almost certain chance that he would help me.

Speaking of Valek...I still didn't know if the little kiss from last night meant anything. Did he feel anything for me? He hadn't _said _so. He had acted basically like he usually did this morning. I wish there was somebody that I could ask for advice on topics like these, but the first person that came to mind was Dilana, and she was still at the castle.

I had found it astounding that I had poured out my whole past to Valek. I guess I was starting to trust him more and more. Dimly, I remembered Mirela saying something about love and trust existing interdependently and I did not doubt that. There were so many things that I needed to do...One: find out my roots and where I came from before I ended up in the orphanage. Two: Rescue the children in the orphanage and foil whatever plans Brazell may have concocted. Three: Visit Mirela one day. Somewhere on the list I added : get to know Valek.

We eventually met with the fire dancers also travelling to the manor. It was a group of around fifteen men and women, with a wagon carrying their props and fire staffs following behind. The leader of the group, a woman with hair that strongly resembled out-of-control flames, approached us.

"Do you want to travel with us? We seem to be going in the same direction, so we might as well enjoy ourselves while we're at it. Exchange gossip, that sort of thing."

Valek smiled politely, but declined, telling her that we needed to travel quite quickly, which we couldn't do with a large caravan.

"Say, where are you headed to anyways?"

"To the manor, same as you." Valek's face and cold eyes told her that that was all the information that she would get.

I looked over at the rest of the troupe. They were watching us talking to their leader with interested looks in their faces and pointing once in a while. Then, I realised that the interested looks from the men weren't directed at their leader, but at me. I walked to the other side of Valek, and their eyes followed me. I crossed back to my original side and still they followed me, proving me right. Valek turned to look at me with a puzzled expression, then slowly followed my gaze up to the troupe. I saw him stiffen and he seemed about to walk over there to do something violent, maybe even kill them immediately.

I squeezed his arm before he could do anything rash. That lead me to think of reasons why he would act rash in the first place. He was an assassin; he should be a reasonable and cold-hearted man. And yet...he wasn't. Hmmm...

He looked down at me with hard eyes, then tipped his head towards the troupe, indicating that the leader should get back to them.

Fortunately the woman got the hint, because she hurried back to her troupe and we outpaced them, running faster for fifteen minutes.

"Look," Valek said, pointing into the distance.

I eyed him enviously. He wasn't even sweating or out of breath. I squinted to where he was pointing. "What?"

"It's the manor, we're almost there." Even though I had been running for just over an hour carrying my backpack, I felt extremely cold. This was the place where I had been imprisoned and kept for future torture and experiments. This was the source of all my nightmares.

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I'm afraid the next chapter won't be as long as this one...Please review!

Little ideas you have that you think will complement the story are welcome, as always! Especially advice on how to finally get Valek and Yelena together. I am fresh out of those ideas...


	14. Chapter 14

:D Thank you for the reviews! They are much appreciated. :)

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Valek POV:

The manor closely resembled the Commander's castle in design. It made sense, after all, this used to belong to the King's brother. I guess the appreciation for extravagance and irregularly shaped buildings ran in the family. I sighed inwardly. Irregularly shaped buildings were so hard to sneak around in compared to box-shaped ones. I silently cursed the architect.

I made Yelena wait for me as I put on make-up to conceal my real features and changed. I couldn't have Brazell and his advisors, or anyone who had seen me before recognise me. Even I would have a hard time talking my way out of that one.

As we had arrived at the manor, Yelena had become very quiet, her face expressionless. I couldn't blame her, since even to me that had no experiences here, I still found the place slightly menacing. We had come in through the side door designated for servants and many of the candles that dimly illuminated the long hallways were either snuffed, or down to a stub. I pulled Yelena through the maze, heading to the room where I was to meet my contact.

My man on the inside, Grigori, was posing as a cook's assisstant. All he was able to tell me was the fact that Ving, his boss, had sent a box of sweets to the Commander, which may or may not contain poisons. I knew that already, so I told him to get rooms for me and my "wife".

Grigori looked at us curiously, especially Yelena. I bet he could tell there was more to this than I admitted, but I really didn't want to bring this up. The Commander questioning me on my "new feelings" was bad enough, but for one of my corps to do that? Well, let's just say that it would be a whole lot better for Grigori if he _didn't_ do that.

Brazell's secretary, whom Grigori directed us to, directed us again to his advisor, Mogkan. Yelena's eyes widened as she heard that name, and I made a mental note to ask her what part Mogkan played in the whole scheme. Now if only I could tell what Brazell was planning to do with these children...

Mogkan nodded at us. "The General welcomes you to his manor. I will direct you to your rooms if you would care to follow me." Without another word, he turned and stode down the very dimly lit corridors.

Yelena seemed as if she was stuck in place so I pulled her along behind me. Mogkan lead us to a rather spacious room, at least, compared to the one that we had shared at The Happy Couple. It seemed nice enough, a warm fireplace, a comfy bed, several soft armchairs. But to anyone else who was trained in the art of espionage, the listening holes in the wall and ceiling were painfully obvious as well as the fact that the room had no windows, providing only the door as an escape route.

I had had my suspicions on why Mogkan would let an ordinary married couple visiting an unimportant friend stay in the one of the most opulent chambers in the manor and even escort them there himself with infinite politeness. But now I knew that he didn't trust us and he wanted to keep a close eye on us without letting us know. Two could play at that game.

Mogkan leaned close to Yelena, and stared at her shamelessly for a long moment. "You do so resemble one of the orphans that ran away. Would you happen to know them?" he asked silkily, his voice low and seemingly aloof.

Yelena's face had drained of color but she managed to mutter out,"No, sir."

Mogkan smiled at her as if they were two conspirators sharing a great secret. "I see. If you happen to want to help me look for them, then let me know." With that, he turned on his heel and disappeared down a dark corridor, his gaudy and brightly coloured robe fluttering behind him.

As soon as Mogkan left, I inspected every corner in the room, searching for other holes and traps that I had missed in my initial sweep of the room. Yelena looked at me with a puzzled expression until she realised what I was doing and started to help me. When we were done, we sat down on the bed and started to unpack.

"That was your first lesson in espionage: Make sure you aren't being spied on before you yourself start spying on other people." I told her, taking out my large coveralls that had many pockets in which to put weapons and other little toys. I then unpacked my weapons and started transferring everything into those pockets. This was preparation for tonight, since I wanted to finish this mission as fast as I could.

She nodded, yet seemed slightly on edge. "Valek... "

I looked up from my task, disoriented. "What is it?"

"Will you help me?"

She said it simply, and quietly, as if she expected me to say no. How could I do that, when I was in love with her? "What do you want help with?"

She tensed. "The children. I want to save the children from Brazell's orphanage. But I won't be able to do it alone." Her eyes met mine pleadingly.

"I made up my mind to save them as soon as you told me about why you left the orphanage. I still can't believe that I was unaware of this." I shook my head, berating myself.

She gradually smiled, and the dark room seemed to illuminate ever so slightly. I blinked. She leaned towards me, and I felt myself tense.

"Thank you," she whispered, and my heart tightened as I realised that not a lot of people had said yes to her before. If Mirela was indeed my old teacher, then that would explain it. It wasn't due to the fact that she was unkind, but it was because she thought that being able to deal with problems without help strengthened you. She could be harsh most of the time, but at least her heart was in the right place.

Without thinking, I had somehow gathered her in my arms and I was looking down on her. I wanted to protect her from the many evils that I knew lurked in the world. I had once killed a great evil, namely the King of Ixia and his family, as well as many nobles, but I knew that that would never be a permanent solution. Sooner or later, someone as evil, or perhaps more evil, would make themselves known to Ixia, and once again, this viscious cycle would start once more. If only there was a way I could ensure that she would never be hurt by this. I buried my face in her hair, inhaling her beautiful scent.

Then, suddenly and without turning back, she bounced off the bed and slipped out the door before I could stop her. After a long pause, I looked down at my hands, still holding a wickedly sharp blade with confusion. What had I been doing before that happened?

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Yelena POV:

I walked briskly down the hall, a song in my heart. I had almost told Valek how I felt about him then and there, but I stopped myself just in time. Saying something might disturb the comfortable teacher-and-student relationship we had, maybe even destroying it. If only he would tell me how he felt about me, that would make everything a whole lot easier...No! I had to think about finding the orphans and getting them to tell me what happened to them.

I hadn't been here for over ten years, but I found that there was still a mental map of the manor embedded in my memory. From our room, I took 3 rights, then 2 lefts, then a right again, and I arrived at the room that I had inhabited when I had lived here.

The door had been painted a vibrant and cheerful red once upon a time, but now it was faded and peeling away in some places. A sign on the room said 'DO NOT ENTER', which hadn't been there when I lived here. Ignoring it, I tested the knob to see if it was locked. It wasn't. Easing the door open slowly, I flinched at every creak that the old hinges made. Peering inside, I gasped quietly at what I saw.

The room was dimly lit with one candle in the middle of the rings of people. There were two circles drawn on the ground in a sort of white chalk-like substance, one smaller circle unside the larger. Unwashed, skeletal people, were sitting along the drawn lines, arranged into two perfect circles. Their expressions were empty and they stared into space, never blinking.

I cried out as I finally recognised Mek, one of my very few good friends that I had in the manor. He too was like an empty shell, with no soul inside. His hair had grown longer and his face sharper, but I could still see that he was the same boy that had shyly offered me a perfectly blossomed flower each day. I ran over to where he was sitting, hunched over.

"Mek! Mek! Do you remember me?" I reached out and tentatively shook his shoulder, but he did not respond. "Mek!"

Trying to stay calm, I took his hand in both of mine and held it tightly, hoping that somehow my warmth would return some life to him. Closing my eyes, I tried to give him some of my energy, even though that was stupid, since I couldnt do magic. I would try anything.

"Ye...Yelena?" My eyes flew open at that hoarse sound.

"Mek! You're...awake?"

He grinned at me, then grimaced as if he found it painful to do so. The flickering candlelight enhanced his gaunt cheeks and haunted-looking eyes. "Happy as I am to see you, you have to get out of here right now! You wouldn't believe what happened to us. They..." He gulped, and fell into silence.

Gripping his forearms, I shook him slightly. "What? What did they do?"

As he opened his mouth to respond, or to protest, the door flew open with a bang. I immediately jumped up and pulled out the switchblade I had hidden. Mek quickly slumped again and pretended to be one of the soulless people. Whirling to face the door, I saw that the man standing there wasn't Brazell, Mogkan, or Reyad.

Frowning in confusion, I squinted and my eyes widened as I realised that it was one of the male fire dancers that had also been travelling to the manor.

"Who are you? Tell me," I demanded, holding out my switchblade. I wasn't afraid to use my weapon if I had to.

"No, who are you?" The stocky man peered at me, his hand gripping a machete. Hadn't Valek told me that that was a weapon used only in Sitia? With a jolt, I realised that though green eyes like mine were rare in Ixia, this young man possessed the same eyes as me, as well as the same hair colour. Belatedly, I realised that he had a Sitian heritage, like me. No wonder.

As for his question, I remained silent, like Valek had taught me to do when I was caught. Not that Valek would have ever been so stupid to get caught. The young man sighed, and I could see that he was only a little bit older than me.

"Since you aren't going to talk anytime soon, I might as well introduce myself. But not before we form a truce." He stuck out his hand with a resigned expression on his face.

I considered it as I stared at him. If I didn't accept his truce, he might report me to the General and I would be in worse trouble. Plus, Valek would kill me if I endangered the mission like that. But what if he was lying? What if he just wanted information and thought that he would be able to trick it out of me once we had a truce?

My instincts told me that he wouldn't do that;after all, his face was quite honest, even though I wasn't as skilled at reading other people's expressions as Valek. His eyes were clear and devoid of deception. My instincts had never failed me before and I hoped they wouldn't now. I placed my hand in his and shook it firmly.

"Now tell me who you are," I said, putting away my weapon but keeping it within easy reach. Just in case.

He took a deep breath. "My name is Leif Zaltana. I sneaked across the Ixian border from Sitia in order to find my sister, who had been kidnapped some fourteen years ago."

I stared at this apparently crazy southerner. He must have loved his sister very much. It showed. "Why did you have to sneak over here? For all you know, she could be in Sitia still. And sneaking across the border is against our laws."

He stepped forward and I inched back. "You can't tell anyone! We had a truce."

I nodded carefully, not sure what he would do. "Continue with what you were saying before..."

His stance relaxed. "Well, I've decided to search for her here. And since the fire dancers travel all over Ixia to perform, I thought that I would join them and do my own private little search in every place we visit."

"Didn't they notice that you didn't have a uniform when you first arrived?"

He grinned, and that grin looked stangely familiar. "I stole one off a laundry line." He hung his head sheepishly. Threat or no threat, I was beginning to like this man.

"Well, this is the last place in Ixia that I haven't searched yet. If I can't find her, I'll probably go back to Sitia and risk being killed by my family."

I shrugged. "Well, good luck." I brushed past him and headed to the door. No more time for chit chat. I needed to find Valek and tell him about the ring of people stuck in this room so he could help me rescue them without getting caught.

Leif grabbed my arm as I walked past. "Wait! You never told me who you were yet!"

He didn't look like he was going to let it go so I humoured him. Sighing, I told him. "My name is Yelena." Oh, why had I forgotten to lie about my name?

He didn't let go like he was supposed to. Instead, his grip tightened until I gasped in pain. "Yelena? My sister's name is Yelena."

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What do you think of Leif?


	15. Chapter 15

:)

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Valek POV:

I finished stocking my coverall in weapons and little goodies, and then began preparing my sneak suit. If I was going to find out what was going on here, as well as assisting Yelena with her problem, I was going to need it. Although, I had a feeling that the mission I was assigned as well as the children in the orphanage were one and the same problem. Still, I could dig deeper and try to find other dirty laundry on Brazell so I could either act on it, or use it as blackmail in the future, which would be very useful if he decided to start plotting something.

Slipping on my tight-fitting sneak suit, I was mildy disappointed that Yelena wasn't here. She would have gotten to see...

Shaking my head to clear that thought, I clipped a short dagger and tucked several primed darts in my belt. Then, I moved to lock the room, even though that probably wouldn't keep out Mogkan, and before I locked it, I surveyed the room. As a last thought, I stowed away the coverall under a loose floorboard. I definitely wouldn't want Mogkan or Brazell to stumble in and see it, thus giving away any plans I would have.

I briefly considered bringing a grapple and hook to scale walls, but decided against it. After all, I would need to somehow dispose of it after I used it or carry it around with me, which is even worse. Plus, it would make me more conspicous and anyways, scaling walls the old-fashioned way toned muscles.

Decision made, I slid out the window and found hand and foot holds in the brick. Soon after, I was lingering outside the General's conference room, unbeknownst to the people inside. Sneaking a peek through the window, I saw that Brazell, Mogkan and Reyad were inside. Brazell and Reyad seemed to be having an argument.

"Father, if only you would.." Reyad's voice broke off in frustration.

"No, son, we need all the orphans we have for this. Unless Mogkan is generous enough to go to Sitia and aquire some more...?" Brazell looked questioningly at Mogkan.

Mogkan looked irritated. "Of course I'm not! We finally have enough and I'm not going to go through all that again just so your son can have a plaything!"

_Plaything?_ Yelena's suspicions were looking as if it was only the beginning of this. Kidnapping children from Sitia too. Why would they need all those kids for? Brazell certainly had enough money to hire some extra servants and besides, why _kids_ from _Sitia?_

Reyad's voice again, now whiny. "Father, if you're not going to do anything with them at the moment, I don't see why I can't just borrow them for a little while."

"No. We're going to need them, alright. Our plan will only take a few hours, or at most two days to take effect." Mogkan sounded rather self-satisfied.

"Really? Things are progressing quite nicely then. The sooner, the better, I suppose. What are we going to do with the Commander once we have him under our thumb?"

My hearing immediately sharpened considerably. They were going to do something to the Commander. I thought suspiciously of the dessert that the Commander had recieved. What was in it, if it wasn't any kind of poison I knew I about?

"Fool! We'll dispose of him a merciful manner. I can even do it for you if you're too sqeamish. In fact, if it makes you feel better, he'll feel no pain as he dies,"Mogkan told Brazell.

This was very important information. Think, Valek, think. How are they going to "take care" of the Commander if there wasn't anything in the desserts? And if they killed the Commander, that would mean that they were going to take over Sitia. It hadn't been a secret in the past five years that Brazell clearly only wanted to become the Commander's successor so he could invade Sitia, even though there would be bloodshed.

I suddenly thought of an enormous flaw in their plan. Even if they made the Commander's death seem accidental, there was no guarantee that Brazell would succeed him. Nobody but the Commander knew who the successor was and only after his death and the pieces of paper containing code on it that was handed out to each General were put together that they would. As if by magic, my question was answered.

"Don't call me a fool! Remember who's in charge here! Anyways, I have finished sending boxes of the Criollo out to all the Generals. They love it, the imbeciles. They even wrote to me begging for more."

Reyad's laugh rang out, his voice cracking as his laughter rose in pitch at the end. "Oh, we'll give them more, Father. And soon after the Commander is gone, they'll all proclaim you as the successor!"

I gritted my teeth. How the hell was I going to fix this mess? At least now I knew that the dessert was named Criollo, but that didn't really help me at all, since I had never read about this substance in my books, nor had I ever had any encounters with it. Reasoning it out, I realised that if it wasn't a northern substance, then it must be from Sitia. It made sense, as I peeked through the window to get a better look and noted that Mogkan had the pale skin of an Ixian, but southern features. Brazell and his son were definitely not resourceful or intelligent enough to get this Criollo on their own.

"Well, I'll be going now. I have to concentrate my power if you want this takeover done earlier. The children are primed and ready, they're just waiting for me to drain them." The door creaked as Mogkan closed it after him.

Draining people of power was illegal in Sitia. So was being a magician and anything related to magic in general. I now had sufficient evidence to kill Mogkan. I smiled slowly.

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Yelena POV:

I almost laughed at Leif's assumption. "Leif, just because I have the same name as your sister, does _not _mean that I am your sister. Do you understand that?" I pushed past him again. No way was I going to stand around talking to this nutcase. I had these children as well as Mek to save.

Leif blocked my way again, raising his machete slightly. Without hesitation, I whipped out my switchblade and held it in front of me. There was no way that I could beat his machete using my tiny little switchblade and I knew it. Unfortunately, so did he.

He sighed and lowered the machete a bit. "I don't want to break our truce, especially since there is at least a chance that you're my sister. I don't want to kill you once I've found you."

Still? He was still hooked on the fact that I was his dumb sister? "Right, keep on dreaming. Do you do this every time that you meet a woman named Yelena?"

"You have to know that Yelena is a southern name. In fact, you're the only person in Ixia that I've met that has that name."

"Still doesn't prove anything. I could have changed my name or something. I could have lied to you about it."

"Did you?"

"Not that I remember. I somehow can't recall the first six or so years of my life."

He crowed triumphantly. "I knew it! That just another point that makes you more likely to be my sister!"

"I am not your sister! How many times do I have to say it!"

"Yes you are!"

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"YES!"

"NO!"

"YE-" He broke off, panting. Haha, sucker. Even Mek could never last against me in a shouting contest when I was at the orphanage, and he had lungs of steel. "Think about it, Yelena. You conveniently can't remember the earlier portion of your life, the time that you would have still been in Sitia. You have southern features, a southern skin color and even a southern name. Maybe I'm wrong about this, but you have to remember, I've spent over 10 years looking for my little sister, and if I've found her, I don't want to lose her because she isn't sure if she was abducted."

"Alright then. Assume that I'm your long-lost sister. There's still no way that I can get back to...whereever I first came from. First of all, the border is guarded day and night by highly trained guards. Second of all-" Hmm, it would probably be best if I didn't tell him that I was Valek's second.

"Border guards? They're a joke. I managed to get over here."

"Well that doesn't me-"

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Mogkan was leaning causally against the wall, examining his fingernails, his voice dripping in scorn. "The short little fire dancer and our own dear Yelena, come back to us."

Before either Leif and I could do or say anything, the muscles in our bodies froze, and no matter how much we tried, we could not move. I met Leif's eyes and they held the same panic that was no doubt in my own.

"I was coming to check on my children. I didn't expect more company to be here," Mogkan purred. "But now that you're here, it would be very impolite of me to send you away. Especially now that you've found out my little secret."

What was he going to do with us? Visions of torture instruments, dark dungeon cells, and the executioner's sword flashed before my eyes. No! This was even worse than any previous kidnapping attempts, because this time, I wasn't even able to fight back. All I could do was stand immobolized and listen to Mogkan's eerie words.

Mogkan studied us for a long moment. "As much as I would like to kill you now, I really don't have the time, or energy to spare. Most of the time, I would take care of my...problams on the spot, but since that's not possible right now...GUARDS!"

Even in this situation, I found that slightly amusing. The man I was so afraid of was calling for the guards like a coward. In fact, he _was_ a coward. Not even brave enough to fight me on his own. Mogkan somehow knew and glared at me with this eyes narrowed until a chill ran down my spine.

A guard, presumably the captain, stuck his head inside the room. "You called for me, Mogka...whoa." He stared with wide eyes at the rings of bodies inside, his jaw dropping. Mogkan uttered a curse under his breath and fixed his eyes intently on the guard. Almost immediately, the man's eyes glazed over, and his jaw slacked a little, drooping even more.

"What do you wish for me to do, sir?" the guard barked in a monotone, standing ramrod straight and giving a perfect military salute.

"Take these two criminals and lock them in the dungeons. In fact, take them both to the two most secured cells. After all, I must show my...guests some hospitality."

"Yes, sir!"

With that, the guard, along with three others, all with their eyes glazed, picked up Leif and I, carrying us over their shoulders. Our muscles were still frozen and remained that way until we were marched through the maze of prisons into the two cells and thrown into the dirty straw bedding, filled with rodents.

As soon as the doors to our cells were locked, our muscles were released from the invisible vice that held them. Belatedly, I realised that Mogkan must have used magic in order to do that. Which meant he was a magician, and would be killed at sight if caught. I had heard a rumour that Valek could sense magic. I could only hope right now that that was true, since that was probably my only way of getting out of here.

Leif. meanwhile, was sitting in his cell, grumbling something about "crazy northerners" and about how hungry he was.

"Hey! Guard!" Leif called out to the guard situated right outside our cells a few feet away. "I'm hungry. What do you have for prisoners to eat?"

The guard laughed, wheezing slightly as he did so. "Fire dancer's dumber than I thought! HA! If ye want ter eat, ye gotta catch it yerself!"

"Catch what?"

"What! HA! There were plently of live meat 'ere last time I checked!"

"Live meat?" Leif's voice sounded more nervous now.

"Live meat. As in rodents."

"Ro..." Even in the almost pitch dark, I could see Leif's tanned face pale. Poor man. I guess he valued his stomach above all else.

Leif turned to me. "This is all your fault!"

"How is this my fault! You're the one that didn't want me to leave!"

"If you just accepted the fact that you're my sister, we wouldn't be in this position now!"

The prison guard laughed rustily. "My job gets more and more funny every day."

The door the the cells suddenly slammed open, a startling sound. Mogkan slowly descended the steps and peered at Leif and I through the bars as if we were put here just for his amusement.

"Soon you two will be dead. Don't worry, it won't hurt that much...if you behave." With that Mogkan left once again and as the door closed, I felt as if all my hopes were slipping away.

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Please review! :D


	16. Chapter 16

This story is coming to an end soon but I think there is going to be a sequel. Some people told me that I should just put it as a continuation of this story but if I do that, I find that the name of this story no longer applies. What to do? :P

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Valek POV:

After Mogkan had left the room, Brazell and his son stopped talking about the takeover they were planning, instead turning the subject of the conversation to types of bread. After waiting a few minutes to see if they would change the subject back, I learned that Brazell preferred whole wheat while Reyad liked pumpkin bread best, which did not help me in any way. So I sneaked back down into the room I was sharing with Yelena and changed back into the clothes I had been wearing before as well as reapplying my disguising makeup.

Then, I decided to take a little stroll through the corridors to look for Yelena. Plus, it would have made Mogkan even more suspicious if I stayed in the room all day. Only now did I notice how many doors each hallway had. The wall was almost non-existant, because the doors were lined up one after another with barely any space in between. If Yelena was in one of these rooms, it would take me much longer than usual to find her.

I wandered down another hallway, wanting to see if each hallway had the same amount of doors. It did. Before I could speculate on why the King's brother, who built this place, would need that many doors and rooms, I felt it on my skin. _Magic._ Coming from the other end of the hall.

Immediately, I ran, trusting my ability to sense magic to direct me to the right location. I was almost a hundred percent sure that this was Mogkan's doing. I could only hope that Yelena wasn't involved with it all.

As soon as I reached the room, I could hear Mogkan call loudly for guards and then, a second later, the rumble of many boots stomping on stone. Acting on a split-second decision, I decided to hide myself. If it was Yelena in there, I would interfere if her life was endangered. But otherwise, I didn't want to expose myself Yet to Mogkan, as I needed a few tricks up my sleeves if I was going to really find out everything about the conspiracy.

The captain of the guard stumbled to the doorknob to open the door. If he had looked up, he would have seem me on the ceiling, but like most soldiers, he didn't. A few seconds after he tripped into the room, I could feel the magic increase. The sensation of a thick syrupy substance brushing against my skin made me grit my teeth with annoyance.

A moment later, the captain of the guard along with three soldiers came out, restraining Yelena and...one of the fire dancers? I saved my questions for later, instead following them to the dungeon so I could wait them out and free Yelena. Maybe even her little friend.

Waiting until I was sure the guards would not come back and Mogkan had come out again, I snuck inside the guardroom. As I expected, one guard was sitting in a large comfy chair, sipping a hot drink and reading a book on military strategy. He barely had time to turn the page before one of my specially dipped darts caught him in the neck and he slumped off the chair, his drink spilling on him and his book landing on the floor. I felt a brief uncharacteristic flare of sympathy which quickly passed. He was going to have a painful burn from the drink when he woke up.

Stealing his weapons and the keys, I unlocked the door to the dungeons and listened to see where they put Yelena and the fire dancer. Brazell apparently had an extensive maze for his dungeons, and I wondered if it was because MD-5 had a lot of criminal activity. Over the years, I hadn't really noticed any increase in crime in MD-5 though. Hearing voices coming from the right, I followed them and turning into a dead end, I saw Yelena and who I guessed was the fire dancer in two cells right at the end. Another guard was sitting in front of them, guffawing at a joke that I must have missed.

A second later, he was also slumped on the floor and I had stolen his keys and was unlocking Yelena's cell, all five locks.

"Valek?" Her voice seemed uncertain as she scrambled out.

"Let's get you out of here." I lifted the burly guard and put him in her cell instead, then locked it. "I can't have my second locked up."

I turned to go but the fire dancer protested frantically, throwing himself against the bars and reaching towards us, all the time sighing melodramtically.

"Wait! What about me! I don't want to eat rats for the rest of my life!"

Yelena pulled at my arm and I reluctantly turned back. I didn't want to waste time, because with his powers, Mogkan probably already knew that Yelena had been freed. Still, I unlocked the five complex locks that dotted his cell door and roughly pulled him out. There.

I had no warning for what would come next. Not that it was an unpleasant thing, in fact, it was quite the opposite. Yelena had flung her arms around me and she was burying her face in my chest. I couldn't stop a smile even though I didn't want to show any emotion around the annoying fire dancer.

Somehow, our lips managed to meet. I still can't remember who initiated it, but all I could think of at the moment was the fact that I was finally kissing her, and for the first time, she was fully aware and in agreement. She still smelled like calm, soothing lavendar even after a brief stay in the filthy dungeon straw. Her lips were as soft as they had seemd the first moment I had ever seen her, or rather, spied her. My heart warmed and for the first time in my life, I felt completely at peace and content.

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Yelena POV:

All that I was aware of was the fact that I was finally kissing him. The man that I loved. Even if he was an assassin and spy, he was still Valek in my heart, no matter what he did or would do. A small part of my mind yelled at me and told me that I should probably run while I could and to get out of the dungeon as fast as possible. I blocked out that part of my mind until Leif ( oh, how I wanted to throttle him) rudely interrupted.

"Um, not all of us want to stand around kissing, you know. Especially since there's no pretty girl waiting for me." He sighed dramatically. " You might not know, but I happen to be quite hungry and oh for goodness sakes, would you two just break apart already so we can get out of here and I can get something to eat?"

Valek and I both turned and glared with poisonous intent at Leif but he quickly turned and ran to the door leading out of the dungeon, following the light from outside. Wise of him.

Valek and I followed, not far behind. Now that Leif had pointed it out, I also wanted to get out of here as fast as I could. But what if we didn't make it? Would I die here? Valek's hand engulfed my own as he ran and as the warmth seeped throughout my body, I felt greatly reassured. 'Everything is going to be fine' I told myself, repeating it like some sort of chant.

We ran up the stairs leading to the guardroom and paused. Three guards were leaning over the limp body of their fallen comrade and they simultaneously looked up with shocked expressions on their faces. Expressions that turned immediately to anger, fear and suspicion.

Drawing out their swords, they held them out in threatening gestures. "Don't move, " one of them said, their voice quavering just slightly.

Valek slowly put his hands in the air and Leif and I looked at him incredulously but followed his example. We were both expecting him to jump into action the moment we saw the guards. After all, we were both unarmed and didn't stand a chance. As one of the guards carefully put down his sword and came towards us with three pairs of handcuffs.

That was when Valek struck. He somehow managed to draw out his sword and hit the guard on the head with the hilt before the guard could even flinch. The guard fell to the floor, unconscious, as his two comrades ran at us, bellowing battle cries.

I managed to take care of one by dodging his blows and knocking him unconscious with a handy jug of water I found on a side table. I turned around to see that Valek had also just finished with his guard, and Leif was lounging in one of the chairs, watching us and patting his stomach. If he ever found his sister, I would feel sorry for her until the end of my life.

I sighed. "Do you think about anything but your stomach? You could've helped, you know."

He grinned. "I only think about other things when my stomach isn't hurting so much. I haven't eaten for hours! And besides, you didn't need help anyways."

I glanced at Valek and saw with relief that the expression on his face was not one of anger but of exasperation. Even as annoying as Leif was, I didn't want him to get hurt. Valek was muttering something and I thought I heard him wondering why Leif was still so stocky when he apparently ate so much.

We had no time for this now. We had to leave while Mogkan, Reyad and Brazell discovered we were missing, even though Mogkan probably already knew thanks to his magic. But this made it even more important to get out of the guardroom as fast as we could.

Just as that thought crossed my mind, I heard the thumping of many booted feet rushing down the hallway, the loudness increasing as the soldiers drew closer. Too late. There was only one entrance to the guardroom so the only possible place we could retreat to was possibly the dungeon. But that was too risky, since the dungeon was a veritable maze and pitch black to boot once the door was closed. That would not work to our advantage because while we had no resources, the soldiers had lanterns as well as more weapons. Even Valek who probably had weapons hidden everywhere could not match the amount of weapons that all the soldiers combined had.

"We have to face them head-on," Valek announced quietly, as the soldiers began pounding on the door to break it down. "I'll take the left side, you two take the right."

Leif, in the meantime, had paled considerably and seemed to have forgotten about his complaining stomach for the moment. "How the hell are we going to get out of this with our lives intact? Judging by the way the door is splintering, there has to be at least twenty soldiers out there."

I had to agree with that. There was no way we could beat all of them, even without Mogkan's magic. But I had no time to express my doubts, as the hinges burst off the walls and fell to the floor, cracking in two as it landed.

There was a split second of silence, where the soldiers calmly surveryed us without doing anything. In that time, Valek had somehow managed to take care of three soldiers. At the sight of their fallen comrades, the rest of the soldiers burst into action. They ran inside, and soon, they had confiscated the weapons that Leif and I possessed as well as holding us still. They got ready to hogtie us, and were bickering among themselves on the best way to do it.

On the left side of the room, Valek was furiously battling the rest of the soldiers. He was managing to hold them off, but since they outnumbered him fifteen to one, there was little chance even he would win. As I watched, an invisible force pushed Valek into a wall. He tried to push against it, but he could not free himself. The soldiers fighting him quickly took hold of the oppurtunity and bound his hands together, while frisking for further weapons.

My concern for Valek's safety increased as I saw a soldier pull out a knife. Struggling against my bonds, I tried to free myself. Meanwhile, I noticed that Leif had grown unnaturally quiet beside me. When I looked at him, I saw that his face was creased in deep concentration and effort. Then, without warning, the rope binding our limbs together suddenly burst into flame.

The soldiers behind us let us go in surprise and in horror, I watched as the fire spread closer and closer to my exposed flesh.

"Stop! You're going to cook us!" I screamed at Leif.

"Don't worry," he said through gritted teeth and soon after the flames stopped. The rope binding us had disintegrated into fine ashes and we stood up, unharmed. The soldiers had just stood there in shock until Leif and began striking out. Even without weapons, I could fight, but Leif was not so well off. He was recaptured by a soldier soon after and only got away after he set fire to the soldier's clothing.

As I fought, a plan began to form in my mind.

"Set Valek free!" I shouted to Leif. "Burn off his bonds!"

Oops. Wrong thing to say. Leif and the rest of the soldiers all turned to stare at me and then Valek with their eyes and mouths wide open. Valek stared at me in fury for revealing who he was.

"Well, well, well..." Mogkan stood in the doorway, flanked by Brazell and his son. "To what do we owe the honour for the pleasure of your visit?" He smirked. "This makes everything easier, you know. As you probably have realised, I've already did some research and experimented and found out your little null shield secret, Valek. Luckily, I used that to my advantage."

He walked up to Valek until he was nose to nose with him. Valek was immobilized and the angriest that I had ever seen him to be. Mogkan sniffed. "I was planning to get rid of you the same time that I was going to get rid of the Commander but this makes things much easier, don't you think?"

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...Happy holidays! :D


	17. Chapter 17

This chapter was really hard for me to write...took me AGES so please go easy on me :(

Gwid: Interesting idea about the rats...

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Valek POV:

I breathed. This was probably going to be the end of it, the end of my life at last and all I could feel was a sort of faint resignation as well as frustration for not being able to fight back. All the times that so many people had tried to kill me...it eventually caught up to me. My only hope was that Yelena would somehow get away unharmed. I was trapped by what that bastard Mogkan, called a null shield, and while I had no idea what it was, I had to break out of it. There was no question about that.

The only good thing about my resistance to magic, even though it had somehow got me into this mess was the fact that Mogkan couldn't use it to kill me directly. He had to do it manually. That wasn't much of an advantage though, because Mogkan had just lifted a sword and was about to run me through with it. I looked over at Yelena and saw that she had incapacitated all the soldiers around her and now was staring at me in horror.

Leif, in the meantime, was busy setting fire to Mogkan's clothing. Or trying to, at least. The moment the fire touched his clothing, it sizzled out, as if cold water had been thrown over it. Mogkan was considerably more powerful than Leif.

At that moment, there was another crowd of people at the door. More soldiers flowed into the room and I saw Yelena's face fall. She was already tired from battling the previous soldiers and I could see that she was about to collapse at any moment.

Meanwhile, Mogkan was taking his sweet time. "Just imagine, I will be known as the man that rid Ixia of it's most dreadful killer! All mothers will bow down to me for saving their children! Sitia will be indebted to me for taking out the Commander's most lethal weapon. And to think, all I have to do is run you through with this sword." He waggled it slightly.

He pulled back and just as the tip of the weapon grazed along my immobilized chest drawing a few drops of blood, he dropped it and staggered back. "My power!" he growled. "How dare they..."

He didn't have time to finish his sentence as he suddenly froze. Confused, I looked around to see Yelena staring with strange intensity at Mogkan and a frown of concentration was on her face. Leif seemed shocked but he protected her from the attacking soldiers while she was in that vulnerable state. Somehow, my bonds also burst into flames and when I shook my arms, they disintegrated into dust. I took advantage of the situation and quickly stabbed Mogkan's own sword deep inside his heart. As he fell and his life's blood slowly flowed from his body, his eyes fixed on Yelena.

"There is something you don't know about the woman you love. She is not who you think she is...She is...Zalta..." he rasped as he shook from pain. Blood started to trickle out from the sides of his lips. His eyes looked at me with an intensity that I had rarely seen with my victims. In fact, the only other person that had looked at me like that was the King, while he was cursing me. Was Mogkan doing the same?

However, I refused to be swayed by his words. All I needed to know was that he would never hurt Yelena again. Curses didn't apply to me before and they wouldn't now. I watched him for a few more seconds until his eyes dulled and gradually he stopped breathing. Good, now all I had to deal with was Brazell and his son, and I had a feeling that Mogkan was the leader of the trio. Without him, Brazell and his son would be easy to overcome.

Now I had to help Yelena fight off those soldiers. I leapt into the fray and soon the soldiers around me fell back. Among them, I spotted Brazell and Reyad, frantically searching for Mogkan. They looked lost without him. Perfect.

As I fought my way towards them, yet more people ran inside. The guardroom was not meant for over 10 people at once, so there was very little room. Swords were then sheathed and knives were taken out. I tossed Yelena a knife and she caught it, whirling around just in time to parry one of the soldier's swipes at her.

"Mek!" I heard her cry. A man with ragged clothing and tangled hair nodded back.

"I heard the commotion and I broke Mogkan's circle! Then I ran for the fire dancers!" he called to her.

Mogkan's circle. That must have been something to do with his power source. I pondered this as I brought down another soldier. In fact, the amount of the soldiers in the room were rapidly decreasing, thanks to the fire dancers and their flaming staffs. I wondered why they would put themselves at such risk, but then realised that they must really be loyal to one another. Once Leif was captured and they found out, they must have come to save him. Mek only led them here.

Finally, only Brazell and Reyad were left standing. They were either very skilled at fighting, or just very lucky. I concluded that it was probably the latter. They were enclosed in a circle of fire dancers with their staffs pointing in towards them. Yelena looked exhausted and Leif was down on the floor, but sitll breathing. I had Mek tend to Leif and to take Yelena to rest, but Yelena protested.

"If you're going to kill them, I get Brazell," she told me. "Mek just told me what he overheard in one of Mogkan and Brazell's secret conversations and apparently I was kidnapped from my former family and taken to the orphanage. Then they somehow managed to erase the first six years of my life."

"I'm not going to kill them," I told her and saw Brazell and Reayd's faces light up. "Yet." I added. "I still have to question them. Afterwards, they will either hang or be imprisoned for life, depending on what the Commander suggests."

"It was all Mogkan!" Brazell bellowed. "He lied to us! We are victims, just like you."

"Yes," Reyad agreed wholeheartedly.

I sighed. "Brazell, you have reached new lows. Would you rather be defeated with dignity intact or do we have to drag the information out of you?"

Brazell bared his teeth. "We are innocent."

"If you admit to it now, your interrogation later will be much less painful, " I told him and I watched his face change as he thought of the stories people told of torture in the Commander's interrogation chambers.

After a long pause, he spoke. "Fine, we admit it."

Reyad protested and moved forward, only to be threatened with a blazing staff for his troubles. I gestured and some of the fire dancers moved forward and put handcuffs on the pair of them before escorting them to the dungeons.

"It was only him, you know!" I heard Reyad call as he was marched away. "All him! I was just dragged into this against my will!"

Yelena looked at me questioningly. "Some of the fire dancers are in my corps," I explained to her.

I put an arm around her waist and led her to the door. "Let's leave this place."

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Yelena POV:

The aftermath of the battle was gory. Blood had coated the walls and over twenty soldiers had died, not including Mogkan. Mek was the only one of the people in Mogkan's circles that ever woke up. The others didn't respond to anything we did to them and we had to accept that while they were still living, they had no souls left inside their empty shells of bodies. Brazell and Reyad were transported to the Commander's dungeons, which had more security and there was an emergency meeting between the Commander and the rest of the Generals to decide on someone to replace Brazell.

In his interrogation, Valek found out that the family that I was kidnapped from lived somewhere in southern Sitia. Brazell didn't know for sure where I came from because it was Mogkan that did all the kidnapping. Which meant that like Leif, I could be killed for crossing the border, albeit against my will, as well as being a magician. I was still baffled at the fact that I was now a magician. Leif told me that I must have been unconsciously supressing it for a long time for whatever reason and now I could flame out any second, which would cause in my death as well as the destruction of parts, if not all, of the power source. Whatever that meant.

Speaking of Leif, he has now been more and more enthusiastic about the fact that I was his sister. According to him, magic ran in families and we both had magic. Also, I had been kidnapped from Sitia, so there was a great chance that I was indeed his sister. He also claimed that we looked alike but I refused to believe that. Height-wise, maybe, but not in facial features at all.

As for Valek, there had been no further incidents that might strenghthen our relationship. He had not said anything to me, and he didn't seem to have any spare time. I was beginning to worry that that kiss had not meant anything to him at all, that it was just relief that I was no longer imprisoned. But wouldn't he have to worry about me in the first place in order to feel relieved? This was so confusing.

A few days after the incident, the Commander summoned me into his office, to talk about what had happened. Fear attacked me as soon as I stepped into his office and saw Valek and Leif there as well.

"Yelena. How pleasant of you to join us so punctually. Sit." The Commander gestured to a chair across from him with a flick of his fingers.

I looked at Leif, who was on my right. He looked terrified and slightly sick. I didn't blame him. Doubtless, there were large consequences for sneaking across the border and getting caught. The fact that he was a magician also must make that even worse.

"Why am I here?" I leaned forward and made eye contact with the Commander. If he was going to order my death, I didn't want to skirt around the topic.

"As grateful as I am about your part in the rescue of Ixia as well as my free will, I can not ignore the fact that you are a magician. There has never been any deviation in the Code of Conduct ever since I became Commander and there will not be now. The Generals are all shaken and will not trust you even if I permitted you to live. While having a second for Valek is important, it is of greater importance that the Code of Conduct be observed." The Commander didn't waste his time sugar coating it. He was going to have me killed for being a magician, and he said so, straight out.

"As for the southerner who claims to be your brother, he will also be executed for using magic and being a magician besides the part he played in foiling Brazell and Mogkan's plans. Valek?" The Commander held out the orders for my execution as well as Leif's.

Valek's eyes were hard and cold. He didn't take the orders, instead looking at me with an expression that made me melt inside. I had no doubt that the Commander knew about Valek and I, but there would be no changing his mind. As I watched, Valek's eyes became pained and he turned to the Commander, about to say something.

At that moment, the door to the office burst open, followed by the cursing of many guards. Ths silhouette of a petite woman was clearly visible against the harsh candlelight glare coming from outside.

I couldn't see who is was, but the Commander seemed awed for once in the time that I have ever known him. "Maryse? Is that you?" He then barked at sharp order to the guards, and they stopped restraining the woman and backed out of the room, closing the door as they went.

Now that I could see the woman, I also gaped. A slight glance at Valek showed that he was also very surprised.

"Mirela?" I whispered at the same time Valek said "Moira?"

Mirela grinned at all of us. "How pleasant it is to meet all my three most gifted students again, and all at the same time! With the exception of this young man, of course." She indicated Leif, who looked slightly put out at being left out in spite of the situation.

Valek smiled. "As I suspected." He turned to me. "Apparently, the Commander, you and I all shared the same arms and combat teacher. Though why we all know her under different names is a different story."

Mirela sank into a chair and observed us all for a moment before speaking. "Of course, every student that I have ever taught has known me under a different name. The reason being that it would be harder to identify me and it is a way for me to preserve the secret my real name."

"So Mirela, Maryse and Moira all aren't your real names?" I asked.

"No, I made those up on the spot when I met you three." Well, that would explain the er, rather old-fashioned, names.

The Commander spoke up. "Why would you need to keep your real name a secret? And how many students did you have?"

Mirela sighed. "That brings me right to the reason I am here. It is because of my sister."

"Sister?" Valek and I said at the same time.

Mirela ignored us. Instead, she strode to the Commander and looked at him intently. "Yes, and that is the reason why you can't kill Yelena."

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Yes, I know this was slightly confusing, but it will all make sense soon!

Plus, xoxoI'm Gonna Kill Ya , I owe you an apology. I'm sorry about Reyad, but I really suck at writing violent scenes and deaths. It was hard enough for Mogkan.:(

In future chaps, though, something could happen to Reyad...care to give some advice?


	18. Chapter 18

**Here you go...and yes, disclaimers do apply.**

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Valek POV:

Seeing Moira was a shock. It had been over a decade since I had seen her last. In fact, the last memory that I ever had of her was her ordering me to go out and seek my fortune, because I had learned everything she could teach. Naturally, I had been a little apprehensive since she was the only family I had had for the past 5 years, but when I expressed my doubts, she merely waved them away with a careless flick of her hand and told me to stop acting like a coward. She's probably the only person that can get away with calling me that.

Moira...or Mirela...or Maryse, whatever her name was, ordered a cup of tea before she began her explanation. "I travelled all the way here to see you three, so doesn't an old woman deserve some luxuries?" she complained.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could have sworn I saw the Commander roll his eyes in exasperation. I wondered how he'd met her and how long he trained under her. He sighed and ordered the tea to be delivered. "You haven't changed a bit, Maryse."

Yelena moved to sit beside Moira once the tea was brought in and tested for poisons by Oscove. Of course, he cast a curious glance at Moira, but I shot him down with a stare and he hurried out of the room.

Unaware, or at least, indifferent to our curiousity, Moira took at least three long sips of the steaming beverage before she began.

"My sister Neri and I were always close. We weren't just sisters, we were best friends, training partners, confidantes, and we told each other everything. We lived contentedly with our father on his cotton plantation, where he was ordered by the King to manage the workers. He was also one of the best fighters in Ixia, but because he had disappointed the King somehow sometime in his earlier life, he was demoted in rank. He taught my sister and I everything that we know about fighting today. I would have said we were a content family. But that all changed when Jer came into the scene. Before you ask, Ambrose [here the Commander looked slightly ashamed] Jer was a farmer from a neighbouring plantation. He was a very handsome man and my sister and I were both great admirers of him, I'm not ashamed to admit. Before long, Neri had fallen madly in love with him and he with her."

Here Moira stopped to take another sip of the tea, and even Yelena sighed in frustration. Moira smirked at us before continuing.

"As these things go, Jer proposed to Neri within a very short time. All they needed was Father's consent and blessing and they would be married at a moment's notice. Unfortunately, that did not happen. Father thought that Jer was too lowly, because he was just a mere worker on the fields, you see. A common labourer. Despite Neri's pleading and wheedling, Father stood firm on this topic and refused to change his mind. That was when Neri and Jer decided to elope. The night that they were going to go, Neri told me good-bye and asked me to help cover for her until morning at least, so she and Jer would have time to at least get married and have a headstart before Father caught up to them."

"Sadly, Father had already suspected that Neri was plotting something, and while she was telling me this, he was eavesdropping at the door. He burst in and took Neri to one of the storage rooms, locking her inside. Then he stormed outside and I searched frantically for the key. Little did I know that while I was spending some precious minutes looking for it, he was arresting Jer. There was no real reason for his arrest other than the fact that he tried to elope with Neri. All it took was a bag of gold into the captain's hands and Jer would be locked up for what seemed was going to be a very long time. Probably for life."

"The next morning, Father let out Neri and when she asked him what he did to Jer, he told her that Jer would come out of prison when she married someone of her rank, or higher. She always had quite a temper when she was younger, but now she flew into a terrible rage. She told Father that she would get revenge for this, and fled, taking with her a bag of gold, a knife and a piece of bread. When I started after her, Father told me to stay and when I refused, he locked me up as he did to Neri. Weeks, months passed without any word of Neri. But one day, the captain of the guard fell ill with a sickness from an unknown poison that no medic could cure and the prison was broken into. Before you ask, Ambrose [the Commander harrumphed] yes, it was Neri that did this. Apparently, while she was gone, Jer had caught a sickness from one of the other prisoners and he had died there with no medic to help him and nobody to care for him. Neri was both outraged and heartbroken."

"She swore that whoever was responsible for this would die. She kept her word. The very next day, Father came down with the same poison- induced wasting disease as the captain and nobody could save him. When he died, he told me that whatever sins he had committed, it paled next to what Neri was doing. You see, she was slowly poisoning the townspeople, one by one even if they weren't involved in this. As hard as the guards tried to catch and stop her, they could not. So I took it upon myself to stop her. As soon as she somehow found out that I was after her, she fled to Sitia and I have lost track of her until now."

Moira sighed and folded her hands in her lap, setting the teacup on a nearby table.

"But what does that have to do with Yelena?" the Commander asked, looking annoyed.

"I have recently discovered through my own private means that she is in the Zaltana Clan's territory, masquerading as a Zaltana Clan member. Everywhere she has went, she has left a path of destruction. How else did you think Marrok escaped from your dungeons, Ambrose? She has been spending more time in the Illias Jungle than anywhere she's been before and I am almost certain that she is up to something big."

"So I need Yelena to go there." Moira sat back. _Finally_ she got to the point.

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Yelena POV:

"Me? Why me?" I asked, puzzled. "Valek and the Commander are both better fighters."

Mirela sighed. "I'm too old right now to go after her. Ambrose obviously can't go to Sitia to look for her, he has too many duties at the moment. As for Valek, Ambrose needs him for espionage or other missions. So that leaves you. You are a good fighter and to top it off, you also have magic, which evens things out because as highly trained as you are, you are still no match for Neri."

Somehow, it didn't feel like such a big honour to be picked anymore.

The Commander spoke up. "Why is Neri doing this? She took her revenge on everyone responsible already."

Mirela shook her head. "My best guess would be to say that she went insane with grief."

I shot a look at Valek. If he died, would I go insane with grief? Probably. But would I go on a heartless massacre on the people that killed him? I had to admit there was a chance, even a tiny chance, that I would maybe consider that. Would I do around spreading trouble everywhere I went after that? I really hoped not.

"So you want Yelena to go after Neri," the Commander said in a deadpan voice. _That is why I can't kill her _was left unsaid, but everyone knew it.

Mirela nodded. "Hopefully this mission will renew your trust in her."

I wanted to protest. I didn't do anything that would endanger the Commander's trust in me. In fact, I had just saved the man's life! But I caught Valek's eye and he shook his head slightly. It would probably be better for me if I just let it play out.

The Commander was silent for a long time. Tension was present and it made my skin crawl in fear.

Finally, he nodded. "Yelena, your execution order will be retracted and destroyed. As Valek's second, this will be your new mission."

My heart started to beat again and I could feel a wild joy burst inside me. One look at Valek's face and I could see the same thing. We would be able to be together.

Meanwhile, Leif sat up. "Will my order be destroyed too?"

Silence prevaded once more. "Let him go, " Mirela said to the Commander. "He's a courageous young man, to risk life and limb just to find his sister. There aren't many like him the in world."

The Commander sighed. "I've already breached the Code of Conduct once by letting Yelena live. Twice might be too much."

Mirela snorted. "You and your silly Code. I thought I taught you better than that, Ambrose."

Valek quickly poke before the Commander could. "You will not be executed. When Yelena goes to Sitia, you will go with her and return to your home. If you are ever in Ixia again without the express permission of the Commmander, you _will_ be killed at sight."

Leif breathed out in relief. So did I. Especially since I was definitely _not_ his sister and I didn't want him to lose his life over a random woman he thought was his sibling.

"Now that that's settled, there is something you need to know about Yelena's magic." Leif twiddled his thumbs as he spoke.

"What?" Valek asked. What indeed?

"Yelena can't go hunting for Neri yet. I've sensed her magic and as far as I can tell, she is very close to flaming out. If she does, then she will die despite the Commander preserving her life and she will also harm the power source."

I didn't understand half that sentence. But I still managed to catch the part about me dying. "What is flaming out?"

"Flaming out is when a magician hasn't controlled their powers and it stays that way for a long period of time. If you weren't kidnapped and you were in Sitia, you would have been tested for magic long ago and you would have probably been placed in the Citadel to learn about and develop your powers."

I moaned and slumped in my chair. Just when one problem in my life was solved, another immediately popped up without any warning.

Leif nodded. "So that is why Yelena must come with me to the Citadel _before_ she goes after Neri. Her life is at risk. Would you take the chance?" he asked, turning to Valek.

Valek's face was stony but his eyes told a different story.

Mirela grinned. "Alright, so Ambrose can send Valek to go after Neri while Yelena manages to control her powers in the Citadel. Then, as soon as she can use her powers to her advantage with skill, she can join Valek. Perfect."

The Commander frowned. "How is that perfect? My chief of security and his second are both in Sitia for extended periods of time and the Generals probably haven't recovered from the desserts that Brazell sent around."

Valek smiled probably for the first time during this meeting. "May I recommend Ari and Janco to become your temporary seconds while Yelena and I are gone? With more extensive training, the two can take on anything in Sitia."

"That's the best I can get? Two soldiers that still need training?" the Commander sighed.

"It's not like their rookies or anything like that. I bet they're good enough now as is," I protested.

"Well, whatever their skill levels, they will have to do, because the threat of Neri increases each second that I stay here talking." Mirela said with a frown on her face. "Besides, Ambrose, I will personally be here with you for as long as Valek and Yelena are in Sitia, I promise."

The Commander sank back in his chair, appeased.

Meanwhile, my heart was falling again. I was going to separated from Valek? After we were finally getting somewhere in our relationship? I resolved to take control of my powers as soon as I could so that I would be able to be with him again sooner.

"I also have to take Yelena to Illias Jungle to confirm if she is indeed my sister anyways, so this will be perfect." Leif exclaimed.

I was about to protest until I realised that as soon as it was confirmed that I was not his sister, he would stop pestering me about it. During the remainder of the meeting, it was agreed that Valek, Leif and I would leave for Sitia as soon as possible, preferably in the morning. Servants were ordered to pack our provisions and we were sent to bed to rest for the upcoming journey.

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**For those that are confused, basically the Commander can't kill Yelena because he needs her to hunt down and stop Neri from carrying out her odious plans. :)**

**The end will be here soon...**

**Review, review, review!**


	19. Chapter 19

**...*cue dramatic music* This is the last chapter of this story. :(**

**Darn, I thought that at least this story would span 20 chaps. So sad, I'm only one chapter away. **

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Valek POV:

I followed Yelena into the room that I had given her when she moved into my suite. Though that seemed an eternity ago, only around a month had passed. Only a month ago. She sat on the bed and looked up expectingly at me.

I took in a deep breath, held it, then exhaled sharply, preparing myself for what I was going to have to say. "Yelena, I want you to be careful in Sitia. I don't know if you've read this already from one of my messages that you decoded and transcribed for me, but there are rogue magicians out there that would not hesitate to kidnap a new magician or two in order to steal power or to control it. I don't want what happened to those orphans at the manor to happen to you."

That wasn't what I had meant to say. In fact, it wasn't even _close_ to what I had wanted to say. But the words were said and there was no taking them back now.

Yelena was looking up at me with a mixture of concern and disappointment in her extraordinary eyes. "Of course, Valek." She looked down at her tightly knotted hands, twisting them further.

I leaned forward and gently took her hands in mine, gently massaging them to relieve the tension in her muscles. _Just do it, Valek!_

I reached into one of my many pockets and took out what I had meant to give her in the first place. It was the butterfly that I had carved with love and I had drilled a hole into it so that I could string a silver chain through it. That way, while we were separated, she would always have a little piece of me with her. Always.

"I want you to have this, " I told her, clasping the necklace around her neck. "Even if I'm not there, just remember I will always be thinking of you."

I saw her eyes fill with tears and she wrapped her arms around me. "I don't want to leave you." she murmured against my chest.

I rested my cheek on her hair and breathed in her wonderful lavendar scent. "Don't worry. We _will _be together again."

I could feel her hands tugging at my clothing. I was tempted to allow her to continue, more tempted than anyone would ever believe. But I wanted for our relationship to develop a bit first. I wanted to be sure that she felt the way that I felt about her. I loved her more than I ever thought was possible but I didn't want to make love to her until we really understood one another. After all, we had only known each other for a little over a month.

I gently pried her hands away and when I looked into her eyes, I saw that she understood and agreed with me. Holding her hand, I pulled her down onto the bed and drew her next to me. She snuggled against my side and my heart filled with warmth.

She then leaned up and kissed me again. "Good night, Valek."

I pulled her tighter and closed my eyes tightly. I cherished every last moment that I was going to have with her and I dreaded the moment I would have to leave her.

* * *

Yelena POV:

Leif and I said goodbye to Valek at the border. He could only travel with us so far before he had to separate from us. As we walked away, I forced myself not to look back. 'You'll see him again' I told myself. I would study and work hard at the Citadel in order to gain control of my magic quickly. Then I would be reunited with him. There was no greater incentive to do well than that.

The fact that everyone would know I was Ixian was bad. When I asked him to cover for me, Leif refused, saying there was no way to hide where I came from, because there were also other Zaltana's at the Citadel and would invariably rat me out.

"It's not that we as a tribe like to tattle, but we like to warn others of imposters. It's a long story," he said, shaking his head.

Great. So now I would have what, a hundred people hounding me everyday, mistrusting me. Leif had also told me that they would also probably position guards and get them to escort me everywhere before I proved that I could be trusted.

It was like Valek's test of loyalty _all over again_. I groaned.

Nevertheless, I was slightly apprehensive and slightly excited for the trip to the Illias Jungle. Now that I had Valek, Mirela, Ari and Janco, I felt as if I didn't need a family anymore, but Mirela had begged to differ. She told me to listen to her because she had thought so once as well but was mistaken. So here I was, in Sitia. My hand closed around the butterfly necklace and I held it close to my heart.

* * *

**So that is the end of The Assassin's Secretary! Sorry for the shortness of the chapter as well as the lame ending, but I had no ideas whatsoever on what to say.**

**A sequel will be coming soon, so look out for that!:) I don't know what name it will be but on the description of the story, I will say that it is this story's sequel. **


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